ICC Scraps Boundary Count Rule In Wake Of World Cup Final Fiasco

The International Cricket Council on Monday scrapped the boundary count rule to decide the winner and tweaked the super over rule following the uproar over the outcome of 2019 men's World Cup final between England and New Zealand. After playing tie, New Zealand and England had headed into the super over to decide the outcome. However, the super over also ended in a tie with both teams scoring 15 runs and England was announced winner on account of higher boundary count.

Following the nail-biting final, the ICC faced the acrimony of fans and former players over the controversial rule. The world cricket body, however, defended the decision at that time. Now after almost three months, the board has finally changed the rule. In case of a similiar situation in a final or a semi-final of an ICC event, the winer will not be decided on boundary count after the super over ends in a tie and will be repeated until there is a clear winner.

"Following on from a recommendation from the ICC Cricket Committee, the Chief Executives’ Committee agreed that use of the Super Over as a way to decide results at ICC events will be retained. Both the Cricket Committee and CEC agreed it was an exciting and engaging conclusion to the game and will remain in place covering all games at both ODI and T20I World Cups," the ICC said after its board meeting in Dubai.

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"In group stages, if the Super Over is tied the match will be tied. In Semi Finals and Finals, there is one change to the Super Over regulation in keeping with the basic principle of scoring more runs than the opponent to win, the Super Over will be repeated until one team has more runs than the other," the ICC added.

The governing body of the world cricket also announced that the eight-year cycle commencing in 2023 will comprise eight men’s events, eight women’s events, four men’s U19 events and four women’s U19 events. It said that the board is of the view that a major men's and women's event every year will bring constitency and give the sport a strong future foundation.

"It will provide clear structure and context to enable the growth of the sport and greater engagement opportunities for all of our stakeholders. The move towards a bidding model will give equal opportunities to all members to host ICC events post 2023," the board added.