The 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s on Sunday witnessed the most thrilling and freakish finish, with a Super Over deciding the champions. It was the first time in the tournament’s history when the scores were tied in the final, and to add to the drama, the scores at the end of the Super Over were tied too.
Both New Zealand and England finished on an exact 241. At the Super Over, both were tied on 15 runs each but England were crowned champions on the basis of a technicality.
What is a Super Over?
The Super Over, also known as the One Over Eliminator, is a method used to determine the winner of a limited-overs match in case the scores of both teams at the end of the match are tied, irrespective of the number of wickets lost by either side. In a Super Over, the two teams bat six balls each. The bowling team nominates one bowler, and the batting team nominates the batsmen from the playing XI. A batsman who was dismissed earlier in the innings is eligible to play the Super Over.
Each team’s over is played with the same fielding restrictions as was used for the last over in the main match. The Decision Review System (DRS) rules apply here as well, with each team allowed one unsuccessful review.
The team that batted second in the main innings gets to bat first in the Super Over. If a team loses two wickets in the Super Over, the innings ends. At the end of the Super Over, the team with the most runs is declared the winner.
What if the Super Over scores are also tied?
This is where the World Cup final got more dramatic, if it wasn’t heart-stopping enough. In the event of the Super Over scores being equal, the team which scored the most boundaries (fours and sixes) combined from its two innings in both the match and the Super Over shall be declared the winner. In this case, England scored 15 runs, New Zealand came out and matched that. However, England aggregated 26 boundaries in total (24 plus two in the Super Over), but New Zealand managed only 17 (16 plus one).
At the start of the final ball of the Super Over, with New Zealand needing two to win, it was clear that a tie was enough for England to win. The boundary count was not going to save New Zealand.
What if the boundary count is also equal?
In the event of both teams being tied on the total number of boundaries scored, the team that scored more boundaries during its innings in the main match (ignoring the Super Over) shall be the winner.
