The 2019 World Cup final will likely be remembered as the most thrilling one-day international contest in cricket history. The match reached a crescendo that few could have predicted—a tie leading to a super over, which also ended in a tie, with England eventually triumphing on a boundary count rule that was as unprecedented as it was contentious. However, the contest could have tilted in New Zealand’s favor during regular play, were it not for a critical oversight by the on-field umpires.
In the climactic moments of the match, England’s Ben Stokes struck a Trent Boult delivery towards deep mid-wicket. Martin Guptill’s subsequent throw deflected off Stokes’ outstretched bat as he dove toward the crease, accidentally sending the ball to the boundary for additional runs. In the commentary box, Nasser Hussain promptly deduced that England should be credited with six runs for the play, a view that umpire Kumar Dharmasena and his colleague Marais Erasmus echoed on the field.
The critical error lay in the fact that Stokes and his partner hadn’t completed a second run when the ball made contact with the bat. The correct tally should have been five runs, making the equation four runs required from two balls rather than three. It was a judgment lapse that could have rewritten World Cup history.
This nearly-unforeseeable scenario unfolded on an already tumultuous day. New Zealand had previously lost a key player, Ross Taylor, to what was later acknowledged as an incorrect lbw decision by Erasmus. The Kiwis had already exhausted their review option, and Taylor’s dismissal was seen by many as another pivotal moment in the match.
Now, with the benefit of hindsight and numerous replays, Erasmus has expressed regret over the decision. Speaking to The Telegraph UK, Erasmus recounted the epiphany he shared with Dharmasena the morning after the game. “The next morning I opened my hotel room door on my way to breakfast and Kumar opened his door at the same time and he said, ‘did you see we made a massive error?’ That’s when I got to know about it. But in the moment on the field, we just said six, you know, communicated to each other, ‘six, six, it’s six’ not realizing that they haven’t crossed, it wasn’t picked up. That’s it,” Erasmus disclosed.
While the boundary rule itself has faced scrutiny and has since been altered by the International Cricket Council, the umpiring error remains a sore point, especially for New Zealand cricket fans and players, who may always wonder “what if”.
Erasmus’ introspection also led him to evaluate his performance throughout the World Cup. Considering the high stakes and intense scrutiny that come with umpiring at this level, it is unsurprising that any misjudgment would linger in his mind. “It was just too high but they had burnt their review. That was my only error in the whole seven weeks and afterwards I was so disappointed because it would have been an absolute flip had I got through the whole World Cup not making an error and that obviously impacted the game a bit because he was one of their top players,” Erasmus added, referring to the Taylor decision.
As the cricket world moves forward—tournaments come and go, rules evolve, and players retire or rise to prominence—the shadow of the 2019 World Cup final lingers. It remains a testament to the slimmest of margins that can define sporting legacies, and a reminder of the human element that inevitably permeates even the most modern and meticulously adjudicated games.
