ICC scraps boundary countback rule for Super Overs after World Cup fiasco

The 2019 World Cup final finish was beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. The final at Lord’s between England and New Zealand on 14th July finished as a tie going against the precedent of World Cup finals being a one-sided affair. Super Over commenced for the resolution and even that ended in a tie. England became the World Champions on account of them hitting more boundaries. The boundary countback rule came under severe criticism from all quarters. The ICC has finally decided to change the ruling.

Also read: CWC 2019: Final Review – Cricket comes home as England clinch their first World Cup victory

“In Semi-finals 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 ICC stated in a release on Monday (14th October).

The governing body has brought about another change. The Super Over will now be employed in group matches of ICC events as well. Previously the matches were declared tied. Now, one set of Super Over will be played after a tied game. If it remains unresolved then the points will be split between the teams.

“Following on from a recommendation from the ICC Cricket Committee, the Chief Executives’ Committee agreed that the 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,” ICC added.

Following the Master

In an exclusive interview with Sachin Tendulkar, we had asked the Master Blaster about this World Cup final. The legend had opined the solution which ICC has implemented now. Here’s what Sachin had said –

Q. As we saw in last night’s match (World Cup final), is losing fewer wickets a better parameter than boundaries scored in a Super Over tie?

Sachin: I feel there should be another super over to decide the winner, instead of considering the number of boundaries scored by both teams. Not just in a World Cup final. Every game is important. Like in football, when teams go into extra time, nothing else matters.

Read the full interview here.