Jason Roy’s throw was far from perfect but Buttler gathered it and dived for the stumps with Guptill a yard adrift. It was established that if the match was tied England would win on the relatively random basis that they had hit more boundaries in the match. Three runs needed off two balls, then two from the last one. A wide was followed by a mighty six from Neesham then a misfield and we were back in familiar territory. Jofra Archer was given the dubious honour of bowling, quite a compliment for the novice. So now New Zealand, on the verge of victory 20 minutes earlier, needed 16 to win the World Cup. Out came Stokes again along with Jos Buttler. Jos Buttler wheels away in celebration after running out Martin Guptill in the deciding super over Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianĪnd so the match was tied and we moved to the super over, cricket’s equivalent to the penalty shootout. A perfect throw came from Jimmy Neesham and Mark Wood was nowhere to be seen. This time Stokes intentionally patted to long on calculating that they could scramble two runs. Stokes hit to long on and Adil Rashid was run out at the bowler’s end seeking a second. Three runs were now needed off two balls. Two had been run plus the four overthrows. But once the ball had crossed the boundary the umpires had no alternative but to signal that six runs had been scored. In these circumstances the etiquette is that the batsmen should not run, which was observed by the two England players. There was a frantic pursuit but no Kiwi could stop it. He dived desperately for safety the ball struck his bat and was consequently redirected towards the pavilion. Martin Guptill swooped and sent it back to the wicketkeeper’s end to which Stokes was sprinting to complete a second run. Stokes heaved again and the ball sped to midwicket. Now comes the twist that few scriptwriters could ever have conceived. Nine runs were now needed from three balls. Stokes hit the next ball over midwicket for six. Stokes hit the fielders and declined to run the crowd, at least the majority of them, groaned. The first two deliveries produced nothing.

World cup cricket 7/17/2019