change in rule ~ Super Over that robbed Kiwis of the World Cup 2019

Do you still remember that Group D match in -  ICC World Twenty20 at Durban, played on Sep 14 2007  !  ~ if not for the date or otherwise, for the result and more so, for the manner perhaps !!

A month or so ago, the match between Trichy & Madurai threw up a tie.  Siechem Madurai Panthers won the toss and put Ruby Trichy Warriors in.  Murali Vijay brought up his second half-century in as many matches with a six off R. Mithun. Murali’s unbeaten 78 off 66 and K Mukunth’s 32 took Trichy to 142/6.  In reply, Panthers, despite losing two wickets, raced to 59 in the first six overs with opener K.B. Arun Karthick (46, 26b, 7x4, 1x6) scoring the bulk of the runs.  But the  match went into Super Over in the midnight.  Abhishek & Arun Karthik opened – the team made just 12 runs – 2 balls wasted !  Requiring mere 13 it was Tanwar to bowl- Murali Vijay slashed at a wide delivery and hit it straight to Mithun at deep point.  in chase the team could not score just 13 !! 

For the not so well informed – a ‘Super Over; called  a one-over eliminator  is a tie-breaking method used in limited-overs cricket matches, where both teams play a single, additional over of six balls to determine the winner of the match. A match which goes to a Super Over is officially declared a "tie", and won by the team who scored the most runs in the Super Over. If the Super Over also ends in a tie, the winner is typically decided by  some other parameters.  A Super Over was first used in 2008 in Twenty20, replacing the bowl-out method that was previously used for breaking a tie. The Super Over was introduced into One Day International (ODI) cricket at the 2011 Cricket World Cup knockout stage, but it was left unused. 

The entertaining Cricket World Cup 2019 ended with ‘a virtual no result’ – yes – ‘a tie’ – a super over ending in another tie but England winning the tournament after 48 games, for the first time and, and New Zealand not losing the match !   "Ridiculous", "absurd", "random", "arbitrary", "unsatisfactory", "galling", "unfortunate", "a shame" ~ is what Kiwis media had to scream for they felt treated unfair.  Black Caps fate  on a World Cup final was decided by a countback of boundaries hit.   The hosts England became the World Champions after tying with New Zealand on 241 each after their respective 50 overs. They both scored 15 in the super-over shootout – but England won thanks to hitting more boundaries in their 50 overs.         

The rules for the Super Over read : -

•         The team batting second in the match will bat first in the Super Over.

•         The fielding captain or his nominee shall select the ball with which he wishes to bowl his over in the Super Over from the box of spare balls provided by the umpires. Such box to include the balls used in the main match, but no new balls. The team fielding first in the Super Over shall have first choice of ball. The team fielding second may choose to use the same ball as chosen by the team bowling first. If the ball needs to be changed, then playing conditions as stated for the main match shall apply.

•         The loss of two wickets in the over ends the team’s one over innings.

•         In the  event of the teams having the same score after the Super Over has been completed, if the original match was a tie under the DLS method, clause 15 immediately applies. Otherwise, the team whose batsmen hit the most number in the match (ignoring super over) shall be winner.

·         If still equal, a count-back from the final ball of the Super Over shall be conducted. The team with the higher scoring delivery shall be the winner. If a team loses two wickets during its over, then any unbowled deliveries will be counted as dot balls. Note that for this purpose, the runs scored from a delivery is defined as the total team runs scored since the completion of the previous legitimate ball, i.e including any runs resulting from wides, no ball or penalty runs. of boundaries combined from its two innings in both the main match and the Super Over shall be the winner. ~ and there is more

•         If the number of boundaries hit by both teams is equal, the team whose batsmen scored more boundaries during its innings

After it created such a furore, and after three months after a World Cup was decided by boundary count, International Cricket Council on Monday tweaked the Super Over rule for all its major events.  From now on, in case a situation arises where both teams are tied even after the Super Over in a final or semifinal, the Super Over will be repeated until there is a clear winner !

 

 “Following on from a recommendation from the ICC Cricket Committee, the Chief Executives’ Committee agreed that use of the Super Over as a way to decide results at ICC events will be retained. Both the Cricket Committee and CEC agreed it was an exciting and engaging conclusion to the game and will remain in place covering all games at both ODI and T20I World Cups,” the ICC said after its board meeting here. “In group stages, if the Super Over is tied, the match will be tied. In semifinals and finals, there is one change to the Super Over regulation in keeping with the basic principle of scoring more runs than the opponent to win, the Super Over will be repeated until one team has more runs than the other.”

The board also decided that the eight-year cycle commencing in 2023 will comprise eight men’s events, eight women’s events, four men’s U19 events and four women’s U19 events. “In examining a whole range of options, the Board felt a major men’s and women’s event each year will bring consistency to our calendar whilst complementing bilateral cricket, giving our sport a strong future foundation,” said ICC chairman Shashank Manohar.

Having been the first to recommend it, Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday welcomed the ICC’s decision to stop boundary count as a way of deciding knockout games in its global tournaments like the World Cup. “I felt this was important as it is a fair way to obtain a result when nothing else separates the 2 teams,” Tendulkar tweeted in favour of the move. England were adjudged winners of the July 14 final owing to more number of boundaries — 22 fours and two sixes to New Zealand’s16 — after the regulation game and the ensuing Super Over ended in a tie. Two days later, Tendulkar endorsed a second Super Over to decide the winner instead of applying the boundary count rule. Many former players and fans criticised the rule after the nervewracking final, prompting the game’s governing body to rethink.

Now, if you remember the Q at the start it was a match where India defeated Pak in a bowl-out !!   ~  a bowl-out was used in limited overs cricket to decide the fate of a match that would otherwise end in a tie.  It was strange and equivalent to a penalty shootout in Football.  5 bowlers from each side would deliver bowling at an unguarded wicket [all 3 stumps].  If both hit the equal no., after 5 tries, the bowling would continue and decided by sudden death !!

In that match after a tie, Shoaib Malik won the toss and asked India to have the first go. India nominated  Virendra Sehwag, Uthappa, Sreesanth, Pathan and Harbhajan ! sounded strange – Sehwag is part-time, while Uthappa is a keeper.  For Pak it was to be Umar Gul, Tanvir, Arafat, Afridi and Asif.

It was tense !! – Sehwag bowled with Dhoni behind – disturbed stumps with a faster delivery.  Yasir Arafat bowled a full toss and missed.  Harbhajan ran in and celebrated hitting the stumps.  Umar Gul came off a short run and missed the stumps.  Robin Uthappa with a cap on, ran in knocked the stumps, took his cap off and bowed to the crowd.   An irate Shahid Afridi fired one down the leg side missing the stumps by a huge margin – and at Kingsmead, India handed yet another defeat to Pak – this time in eerie circumstances.  Recently, Mahinder Dhoni revealed that his side had practiced for the bowl outs before and after their training sessions.

Interesting !

Regards – S. Sampathkumar

17^th Oct 2019.