The memories of the most infamous goal in the history of
football World Cup, scored by Diego Armando Maradona, against England in the
1986 FIFA World Cup semi-finals at the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City, resulting
in Argentina's Victory (2-1) seemed to be just like yesterday's when history
repeated itself, this time in the history of Cricket at the Mecca of Cricket in
the ICC World Cup Final 2019.
When English all-rounder Ben Stokes secured controversial 6
runs in the fourth ball of the final over, turning the table in England's favor,
the fans cheered euphorically across the stands. With New Zealand bowler Trent
Boult bowling in the final over and 15 runs needed off 4, Stokes swung his bat
to smash a sixer over the mid-wicket. Now, 9 needed off 3. The big moment
arrived when the fourth delivery turned into a 2+4 miraculously. After Stokes
hit the ball, he ran to secure a double while opponent Martin Guptill went for
a direct hit. The throw hit Stokes’s bat as he dived in to reach the crease
line and the ball rolled to the boundary behind the keeper. Stokes raised up
his hand remorsefully, pronto, to indicate that the incident was completely
unintentional.
As the non-negotiable laws of cricket state that the batsman
cannot be out if he 'accidentally' causes obstruction to field and thus, any
runs scored by him shall remain, six runs were added to England's score.
Critics and fans across the world have since started
comparing and linking Maradona's “Hand of God” goal with this, naming it the “Bat
of God”. This was an iconic moment before the Super Over, which resulted the
match to end in a tie, with both the teams scoring 241 each.
A Tie. A Super Over. A Tie in the Super Over.
A dramatic and controversial match, as it was, the
scoreboard seemed to revolve round in one track. First, England needed 3 runs
off 2 balls in the final over which eventually ended in a tie. Then, New
Zealand needed 3 runs off 2 in the super over to win the title of world
champion, which also ended in a tie. Both the teams' players were on the verge
of getting a run out on the last 2 balls of the respective overs.
The Super Over, in operation for the first time in a World
Cup final, also ended in a tie with both the teams scoring 15 runs each. Finally,
giving an end to all the anticipation, England won the world cup by the virtue
of boundary count. They had hit a total of 26 boundaries as opposed to the Kiwi
batsmen who hit 17. First time in the history of cricket, a team won by 0 runs.
Ben Stokes was reported to mention, after winning the World
Cup, that he would apologize to the Kiwi captain Kane Williamson for those
extra 4 runs. On the other hand, Williamson admitted that it was tough to
swallow the loss on the back of a double tie.