Stokes asked umpires not to add four overthrows to England total, says Anderson

England bowler James Anderson said Ben Stokes, who apologised the moment the incident happened by raising his hands, had appealed to the umpires to overturn their decision.

Published : Jul 17, 2019 12:23 IST

Ben Stokes raises his hands in the air in apology after a throw from Martin Guptill deflected off Stokes’ bat and reached the boundary during the World Cup 2019 final between England and New Zealand.
Ben Stokes raises his hands in the air in apology after a throw from Martin Guptill deflected off Stokes’ bat and reached the boundary during the World Cup 2019 final between England and New Zealand.
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Ben Stokes raises his hands in the air in apology after a throw from Martin Guptill deflected off Stokes’ bat and reached the boundary during the World Cup 2019 final between England and New Zealand.

England World Cup hero Ben Stokes asked the umpires to take away the four overthrows that proved decisive during its final win over New Zealand on Sunday, according to his Test teammate James Anderson.

A throw from Black Caps fielder Martin Guptill deflected off Stokes’ bat while he was diving to reach his crease to complete the second run and the ball ran off to the boundary in the dying stages of the England run chase.

Having taken into account the two completed runs and the resultant boundary from the overthrow, Stokes was awarded six runs, though some experts including retired umpire Simon Taufel have opined that he should only have got five, which would have left England a run short of New Zealand’s total of 241 for 8.

READ | Simon Taufel: England should have been given five runs, not six

If Stokes had his way, the match might have never reached a tie and gone to a Super Over, where both teams scored 15 runs and England eventually won the World Cup on boundary count.

Anderson, who will be Stokes’ Test teammate for the upcoming Ashes series against Australia, said that the England all-rounder, who apologised the moment the incident happened by raising his hands, had appealed to the umpires to overturn their decision.

“The etiquette in cricket is if the ball is thrown at the stumps and it hits you and goes into a gap in the field you don’t run. But if it goes to the boundary, in the rules it’s four and you can’t do anything about it,” Anderson told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast.

“I think, talking to Michael Vaughan who saw him (Stokes) after the game, Ben Stokes actually went to the umpires and said, ‘Can you take that four runs off. We don’t want it’ But it’s in the rules and that’s the way it is,” added Anderson.

“It’s been talked about for a while among the players, potentially that being a dead ball if it does hit the batsman and veer off somewhere.”

Christchurch-born Stokes said after the summit clash that he might have to say sorry “for the rest of my life” for the extra runs which he labelled “fluke”.

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