Hardly anyone would have forgotten the final of the 2019 ODI World Cup. Although there have been many controversial matches in the history of cricket till date, but the final match of the ODI World Cup 2023 was the only match that forced the ICC to change its rules. The final of the 2023 World Cup was played between England and New Zealand, where hosts England defeated the Kiwis by 0 runs.

Now the first question that must have come to your mind is how can a team win or lose by 0 runs? So for your information, all this happened because of the controversial rule of ICC. After this tournament, ICC had to change this rule. Let us tell you what happened in that match.

This was the situation of 2019 ODI World Cup

In fact, in that match, New Zealand batted first and scored 241 runs in the stipulated 50 overs. Henry Nicholls was the only Kiwi batsman who managed to cross the 50-run mark, he scored 55 runs in 77 balls. England, who came out to chase this score, at one point lost 4 wickets for 86 runs in the form of Jason Roy, Joe Root, Johnny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan.

After this, Ben Stokes and Jos Butler made a 110-run partnership for the 5th wicket and brought England back into the match. In the 45th over, Lockie Ferguson brought New Zealand back into the match by dismissing Butler on a personal score of 59. In the last over, England needed 15 runs to win and had two wickets in hand.

Trent Bolt did not give any runs on the first two balls of the last over, so the pressure was increasing on England. Stokes kept his team alive in the match by hitting a six towards mid-wicket on the third ball. On the fourth ball, something happened which no one could believe. Stokes tried to take two runs by playing a shot towards deep mid-wicket, Martin Guptill who was present there tried to make a direct throw which hit Stokes’ bat and went straight across the boundary.

The umpire gave a total of 6 runs on this ball (2 runs by running and 4 boundaries). There again the match seemed to be going in England’s favour. However, New Zealand still did not give up. Bolt bowled a wide yorker on the fifth ball on which Stokes wanted to take two runs, but Adil Rashid standing at the non-striker’s end got out. The situation on the last ball was such that England needed 2 runs to win and New Zealand was one wicket away from victory.

A similar scene was seen on the last ball as well. Stokes wanted to take two runs by playing lightly, but Mark Wood, who came at the non-striker’s end, could not reach the crease in time and the match was tied and went into the over.

England became champion on the basis of boundary count

In the Super Over, England batted first and scored 15 runs on the board, in response to which New Zealand also managed to score only 15 runs. After that everyone was wondering what would happen if the Super Over was tied? Actually, till the 2019 World Cup, the rule was that if the match is tied in the Super Over as well, then the winner would be decided on the basis of boundary count. In the match, New Zealand hit 2 sixes and 14 fours, while England hit 2 sixes and 22 fours. In such a situation, England became the champion despite the match being tied.

After that match ICC had to change the rules

After the match, this rule of ICC was heavily criticized. Cricket pundits said that how can the winning team in such a big tournament be decided on the basis of boundary count. After criticism from all over the world, ICC had to change this rule. Now the rule is that if the match is tied in the super over as well, then the next super over will be played and this sequence will continue until the result of the match is out.