Stokes had already broken New Zealand hearts by steering England out of early strife in the final at Lord’s, giving his adopted nation a fighting chance of victory heading into the last over.
His mighty six over midwicket left England needing nine runs to win with three balls left.
Then it happened.
Smashing the next ball deep into the leg side, he set off to run two and ensure he kept the strike. As he sprinted back to the striker’s end, he dived and stretched his bat out in a desperate bid to reach the crease. The ball, thrown in by Martin Guptill, struck Stokes’ outstretched bat and deflected 90 degrees, rolling all the way to the boundary in front of the famous pavilion at Lord’s.
It was another six for Stokes — two ran, as well as four for the boundary. He held up both hands in an apologetic gesture to New Zealand’s players.
However, Simon Taufel, who was one of the best umpires during his tenure, has stated that the on-field umpires were wrong as England should have got five runs instead of six.
“It’s unfortunate that there was a judgment error on the timing of the release of the ball and where the batsmen were. They did not cross on their second run, at the instant of the throw. So given that scenario, five runs should have been the correct allocation of runs, and Ben Stokes should have been at the non-striker’s end for the next delivery,” Taufel told The Age.
Even the rules state that in such a scenario five runs should be awarded to the batting team.
“If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded to either side, and the allowance for the boundary, and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act,” the law says.
Simon Taufel was also quick to defend umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus.
“We’re not perfect. You’ve got the best two umpires in the elite panel doing the final. They’re doing their best like the other two teams are. This is just part of the game,” he said.
“I think it’s unfair to say that the World Cup was decided by that one event. There’s a lot of ‘what ifs’ and ‘what should bes’ and ‘what could bes’ that happen off those 600-plus deliveries. That’s the nature of sport.”