ICC World Cup 2019 | Ben Stokes asked the umpire to take back the four overthrow runs, claims James Anderson

Ben Stokes carried England over the line with his fighting innings in the final of the 2019 World Cup final. The last two overs saw a lot of drama with the most prominent one being the four overthrow runs which eventually turned out to be decisive. 

As Stokes hit the ball towards midwicket and charged for a second, Marthin Guptill picked the ball in no time and threw towards the keeper's end. The ball hit Stokes’ bat and raced towards the boundary, briniging down the equation to three off two deliveries. Anderson has stated that Stokes urged the umpires to overturn their decision and take back the four runs and looked largely apologetic for the incident. 

“The etiquette in cricket is if the ball is thrown at the stumps and it hits you and goes into a gap in the field you don’t run,” Sydney Morning Herald quoted Anderson as telling BBC’s Tailenders podcast.

“But if it goes to the boundary, in the rules it’s four and you can’t do anything about it. I think, talking to Michael Vaughan who saw him after the game, Ben Stokes actually went to the umpires and said, ‘Can you take that four runs off. We don’t want it’. But it’s in the rules and that’s the way it is,” he added.

The match ended in a draw and the four overthrow runs had a huge role to play behind it. The Super Over too ended in a tie as England were adjudged winners for scoring more number of boundaries in their innings.