Wellington: The New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson revealed they were surprised to find out that the umpires made a critical mistake in the final moments of the World Cup final, when Ben Stokes was awarded six runs following the controversial overthrow. Former umpire Simon Taufel, on Monday, said that under Law 19.8, related to an "overthrow or wilful act of fielder". According to Taufel, as per the ICC rules, the batsman should have been awarded 5 runs instead of 6.
Speaking to New Zealand Herald, Williamson said that he was not aware of the rules and trusted the umpire at the point. "I actually wasn't aware of the finer rule at that point in time, obviously you trust in the umpires and what they do. I guess you throw that in the mix of a few hundred other things that may have been different."
If England were awarded five runs, they would have fell short of the target by a run and the match would never have entered the Super Over, with the Black Caps winning the title.
NZ batting legend Craig McMillan also expressed his disappointment over the error. "I didn't know that rule, to be perfectly honest. I've played a lot of games of cricket, watched a lot of cricket and overthrows have always been added to what's been run, as opposed to the point of the throw coming in," McMillan said.
Black Caps head coach Gary Stead added: "The umpires are there to rule and they're human as well, like players, sometimes errors are made. That's just the human nature of sport, and why we care so much about it as well."
As his team tried coming to terms with the gut-wrenching defeat, he said: "No one lost the final." Cricketers, current and former, shared New Zealand's pain on losing the title on boundary count with many of them asking for a "serious look" into the rule, slammed as "absurd".
"At the end of the day nothing separated us, no one lost the final, but there was a crowned winner and there it is." Widely praised for the grace with which he and his side accepted the defeat, Williamson said they had signed up to the rules that governed the tournament.
New Zealand lost to England at the Lord's on Sunday due to inferior boundary count (16 in 50 overs to hosts' 24) after both the regulation 50 overs and the Super Over ended in ties.
"I suppose you never thought you would have to ask that question and I never thought I would have to answer it (smiling)," was
Williamson's first reaction when asked about the rule. "While the emotions are raw, it is pretty hard to swallow when two teams have worked really, really hard to get to this moment in time."