South African cricket umpire Marais Erasmus, who officiated in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup final between England and New Zealand, has opened up about his umpiring decisions. The move that could lead to New Zealand’s first 50-over World Cup win in 2019 included a controversial decision to avoid a six-wicket haul to England after the ball touched Ben Stokes’ bat on the run and ran towards the boundary. run. Erasmus was one of the on-field umpires along with Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharamsena in the epic title clash between the two countries, which ended with 241 for the regular season and three after the Super Over. The Lions lifted the World Cup trophy for the first time with a boundary count. It also ended in a draw.

In the final over of the match, England needed 15 runs at the crease from Stokes and Adil Rashid. On the fourth ball of the inning, the two hit a double. Before Stokes could reach his own crease, Martin Guptill’s delivery met Stokes’ bat and the ball sailed towards the boundary. As the England batsmen scored two runs and the ball flew towards the boundary, England scored six runs to reduce the deficit to two wickets and three runs.

However, as per ICC rules, only five runs should have been awarded as both batsmen had not fully crossed over for the second run when Guptill’s delivery touched Stokes’ bat. The decision proved to be extremely decisive as it reduced the deficit from three goals and nine points to two goals and three points. The game and the Super Over ended in a draw, with England winning their first title thanks to more boundaries.

Erasmus, who retired after the second Test between New Zealand and Australia in early March, told Telegraph Cricket that he next discussed his decision with Dharam Saina. They failed to spot Stokes-Rashid’s failure to fully cross in the second over, ultimately giving England an extra point.

“The next morning (after the final), I opened the door of my hotel room on my way to breakfast and Kumar opened his door at the same time and he said ‘you see, we made a huge mistake’. Just I didn’t know it at that point but in that moment on the field, we were just saying six, you know, communicating to each other “six, six, it’s six,” not realizing they hadn’t crossed over yet, it hadn’t been caught. That was it, ” The Telegraph quoted Erasmus as saying.

Furthermore, Erasmus said one of his other mistakes, which was to award 15 runs to the New Zealand batsman’s leg in front of the wicket even though the ball did not hit the leg stump, also affected the match. The umpire said the ball was too high and the Kiwis had squandered their last previous review.

“It was my only mistake in the whole seven weeks and I was very disappointed afterwards because if I hadn’t made a mistake throughout the World Cup it was definitely a flip and it obviously had some impact on the game because he was one of them One of their top players,” Erasmus admitted.

Erasmus was appointed to the ICC’s elite panel of referees in 2010, making him, along with Rod Tucker, the longest-serving current referee on the list.

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