Wellington: It probably is impossible to imagine a closer cliffhanger than the 2019 Cricket World Cup final when England and New Zealand locked horns to be crowned as the world champions.
Firstly, both teams ended their innings at 241 runs each before moving on to Super Over to determine the winner. The drama didn’t stop there as both the teams scored exactly 15 runs in the 6 balls they were allowed to play. Eventually, England was named the winner of the match as they had scored more boundaries during the course of the inning.
This sparked a huge debate as many fans found it unjustifiable to call a team champion because they scored more boundaries. The loss came as a huge disappointment for the Kiwis who deserved the title just as much as England did.
Now, seasoned New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor has said that he would not mind teams sharing the 50-over World Cup Trophy in the rare case of a tie as he strongly believes that Super Over is not at all necessary in the One-Day format.
International Cricket Council (ICC) had drawn a lot of flak from Cricket fans across the world due to such a regulation which helped England lift their first ever 50-over World Cup trophy.
This outrage across the world compelled the ICC to amend the rule and allow repeated Super Overs in the semifinals and finals until the winner is decided. Taylor, however, finds it more appropriate to just share the trophy if the final is tied.
“I’m still undecided in a Super Over in a one-day game, I think one-day cricket is played over such a long time that I have no problems in a tie being a tie,” Taylor said.
“In T20, to continually go on is the right way to go. A bit like football or some other games, trying to get that win in, but I don’t think the Super Over is necessarily needed in a one-day game. I think you can have a joint winner.”
Keeping the length of a one-day game in mind, Taylor feels tie is a fair outcome.
“During the World Cup I actually went up to the umpires to say ‘good game’, I didn’t even know there was a Super Over. A tie is a tie, I suppose you could have this argument either way, but in a one-day game, I think if you can go 100 overs and still have someone equal at the end I don’t think a tie is a bad thing.” New Zealand has not done well as far as Super Overs are concerned as they have lost seven out of eight ones across formats.
“One over across 50 overs or 20 overs is tough to swallow, but if we are in that same situation we still back ourselves. First and foremost you have to try and win the game in the allocated time.”
“We haven’t been able to be ruthless enough there, and if we can do that and not even let it get into a Super Over then hopefully the right results comes,” Taylor added.
