England would not have won the 2019 Cricket World Cup under the International Cricket Council’s new tiebreak rules for knockout matches.
In response to the extraordinary World Cup final, the ICC has changed the rules and abolished the controversial boundary countback rule after a Super Over.
Under the new rules agreed in Dubai, when scores are level after a Super Over there will be more Super Overs played until one team has scored more runs than the other.
The ICC said the change to the rules was “in keeping with the basic principle of scoring more runs than the opponent to win”. Had this been enacted prior to the World Cup final, when both England and New Zealand scored 15 runs in the Super Over after earlier scoring 241 in their full 50 overs, then there would have been another Super Over.
Although the ICC has changed the rules for future ICC events - ruling that group matches will be adjudged a tie if the Super Over is tied, but that there will be another Super Over if the Super Over is tied in knockout games - the new rules will be glimpsed very rarely.
Only two knockout games in the history of the Cricket World Cup - Australia’s tie with South Africa in the 1999 semi-final, and this year’s final - have ever finished with the scores level after a full innings each, with the final the only instance of this being true after the Super Over too.
Following the conclusion of the ICC board meetings in Dubai, the ICC also announced a significant hike in women’s prize money - including prize money for the next Women’s World Cup, in 2021, increasing from $2 million to $3.5m.
Both Nepal and Zimbabwe have also been readmitted as members of the ICC after previously being suspended for government interference.
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