The last ball of New Zealand's innings: Mitchell Santner ducked under it

[DHONI183]

I know that I´m being harsh here, I know that I´m kind of nitpicking here. Also, it´ll be wrong on so many levels to put the blame on this ball from the greatest cricket match ever (in my opinion at least), overlooking so many other key moments from the match.

However, the truth is that every little moment, every little run ends up mattering the most in a tied match, and even more so in a tied world cup final. So let me get this straight, Santner attempted no shot whatsoever and decided to duck under a delivery which, on height, would never have been given a wide. This was the most bizarre end to an ODI (or even T20) innings that I´ve ever seen. Nasser Hussain was completely baffled by what Santner did.

The funny thing was, I said right away to my elder sister that this moment will come back to haunt New Zealand if they end up getting beaten by one run. Surely, if he had attempted a shot, he could´ve got a run, or perhaps two.... On his day, Santner is fully capable of hitting boundaries.

 

[DHONI183]

The last ball of New Zealand´s innings: Santner ducked under it

This is what I wrote around about an hour and a half before the match......

I somehow get the feeling that New Zealand´s lower-order will end up playing a decisive role in the Final today.

^ http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...9-New-Zealand-innings&p=10427402#post10427402 ^

 

[Mamoon]

Not only that, but they only scored 20 in the last 18 balls even though they had 4 wickets in hand. Their defensive attitude cost them.

No one stopped them from scoring more boundaries so there are not in a position to complain.

England’s intent of trying to find boundaries regularly won them the World Cup in the end.

 

[sweep_shot]

I personally think Boult dropped the World Cup by being careless. He caught Stokes thinking he was far from boundary line.

That six changed the momentum.

 

[Suleiman]

Thing is winning the small moments is the difference between winning or losing a game this close, obviously.

NZ botched the small moments. Sending in Guptill over Grandhomme, catcher losing his balance at the boundary and Santner who is an allrounder and capable of hitting not going for a shot.

Yes you can call it nitpicking, but these small things add up when both sides are playing neck to neck in a match.

But this was still a robbery. The botched overthrow run added and the tied super over rule. Latter was already in place but former was a big big error on the umpires. Dharmasena has to be sacked, has been shockingly poor this WC.

 

[rhony]

I personally think Boult dropped the World Cup by being careless. He caught Stokes thinking he was far from boundary line.

That six changed the momentum.

Not only that. On the 5th ball of the last over, Bould could have easily thrown the ball to the keeper to get Stokes out. Instead he ran the other batsman out at the runner's end. You could see him regretting right after. He lost his head under pressure.

 

[rhony]

Thing is winning the small moments is the difference between winning or losing a game this close, obviously.

NZ botched the small moments. Sending in Guptill over Grandhomme, catcher losing his balance at the boundary and Santner who is an allrounder and capable of hitting not going for a shot.

Yes you can call it nitpicking, but these small things add up when both sides are playing neck to neck in a match.

But this was still a robbery. The botched overthrow run added and the tied super over rule. Latter was already in place but former was a big big error on the umpires. Dharmasena has to be sacked, has been shockingly poor this WC.

Grandhomme couldn't put bat to ball when Archer was bowling. He was a NOGO. Also, he isnt a fast runner. They chose Guptill for his running first and then striking. Dharmasena is done. Kane's dismissal was clear but he chickened out and let Eng use their review. WHat if Eng didn't have a review.

 

[Ab Fan]

The only reason NZ lost the World Cup and England won it was because England had luck with them. It was in England's destiny to win this tournament and hence they won.

I would like to state a couple of points here:-

1. England deserves to win the trophy because England are a better team than NZ and would beat NZ more numbers of times than NZ would. This is a fact and we all agree.

2. But on that particular day( the final day), NZ played better cricket than England.

 

[shoaib]

I know that I´m being harsh here, I know that I´m kind of nitpicking here. Also, it´ll be wrong on so many levels to put the blame on this ball from the greatest cricket match ever (in my opinion at least), overlooking so many other key moments from the match.

However, the truth is that every little moment, every little run ends up mattering the most in a tied match, and even more so in a tied world cup final. So let me get this straight, Santner attempted no shot whatsoever and decided to duck under a delivery which, on height, would never have been given a wide. This was the most bizarre end to an ODI (or even T20) innings that I´ve ever seen. Nasser Hussain was completely baffled by what Santner did.

The funny thing was, I said right away to my elder sister that this moment will come back to haunt New Zealand if they end up getting beaten by one run. Surely, if he had attempted a shot, he could´ve got a run, or perhaps two.... On his day, Santner is fully capable of hitting boundaries.

In my opinion this is putting yourself ahead of the teams requirements...was he scared he would get hit? It was a bizarre ending if I were captain would be extremely annoyed. Disciplinary offence in my opinion

 

[Aman]

Thing is winning the small moments is the difference between winning or losing a game this close, obviously.

NZ botched the small moments. Sending in Guptill over Grandhomme, catcher losing his balance at the boundary and Santner who is an allrounder and capable of hitting not going for a shot.

Yes you can call it nitpicking, but these small things add up when both sides are playing neck to neck in a match.

But this was still a robbery. The botched overthrow run added and the tied super over rule. Latter was already in place but former was a big big error on the umpires. Dharmasena has to be sacked, has been shockingly poor this WC.

Everything went against us and we still didn't lose. Proud of the team.

 

[Abdullah]

I personally think Boult dropped the World Cup by being careless. He caught Stokes thinking he was far from boundary line.

That six changed the momentum.

That was harsh, he had one foot on the floor so assumed he could put the other foot down too. Really tight it was.
Wow - I can't live with myself for my Innings in my league cricket debut on Saturday- I can only imagine what these guys are going through

 

[cririri]

He thought it would be a wide

 

[Hasan123]

It was embarrassing. He should have just gone for it. I said it to my dad straight away and he shook his head in disbelief.

 

[nextover666666]

It really was a dumb but also we must not forget de grand homme dropped a catch off his own bowling that proved costly too but the thing that cost the match was the extra run it should have been 5 runs not 6 can't believe the umpire didn't even bother to check with tv umpires . Kane Williamson should have went straight to the umpire and put him under some pressure to make sure the right amount of runs were called

 

[King-Misbah]

Suprised that no one mentions of why Bolt was given the super over? He had a bad game and Ferguson was a much better bowler! Ferguson should have the bowled tje super over. NZ made some stupid decisions and it cost them the WC.

 

[DHONI183]

In my opinion this is putting yourself ahead of the teams requirements...was he scared he would get hit? It was a bizarre ending if I were captain would be extremely annoyed. Disciplinary offence in my opinion

In my personal opinion, I still don´t think that Santner was putting himself ahead of the team to walk away with a not out or something. What would he gain from it as a tail-ender? At most, I can only imagine that he was looking for a wide which was never going to be given anyway.

Or simply, it was just a moment of madness where your brains refuse to function. I´m kind of reminded of a dismissal of Michael Clarke. He backed away to the leg-side to hit the ball to the off-side (over the head of the fielders), but he ended up offering no shot at all and was bowled. It was funny as hell! I think that it must be on YouTube somewhere.

Everything went against us and we still didn't lose. Proud of the team.

That´s the funny and the sad part about it. Despite whatever happened to them, New Zealand still neither lost the full 100-over match, neither on the Super Over - only to be declared second best on some stupid rule. Every fan of this team from around the world should and IS proud of them. Well done Kiwis!

Wow - I can't live with myself for my Innings in my league cricket debut on Saturday- I can only imagine what these guys are going through

What was it?

..... but the thing that cost the match was the extra run it should have been 5 runs not 6 can't believe the umpire didn't even bother to check with tv umpires . Kane Williamson should have went straight to the umpire and put him under some pressure to make sure the right amount of runs were called

I think back in 2006 or something, a journalist asked Ponting as to why they don´t play the game like New Zealand do. His answer was that he´s fine with the Kiwis winning the Spirit of the Game award as long as they themselves keep on winning trophies. This comment annoyed me a bit back then but I think he was spot on. As much as it hurts me to be saying this, being nice actually only gets you this far.

If it had been Kohli in his place, he would´ve for sure taken up the issue to the TV Umpire. He would´ve made sure that every little thing would´ve been checked - even whether Stokes intentionally put out his bat out there or not. And fair enough, what´s the harm in getting it checked?

Suprised that no one mentions of why Bolt was given the super over? He had a bad game and Ferguson was a much better bowler! Ferguson should have the bowled tje super over. NZ made some stupid decisions and it cost them the WC.

I think they went for experience over inexperience. Although, at that stage, I was also of the view that Ferguson should´ve been given the responsibility to bowl the Super Over.

Mind you, even England might´ve got it right. Neither did Archer bowl a great every, with the exception of a couple of balls I think. He bowled two more very hittable, right-in-the-slot length balls which should´ve been put away by Neesham. He hit almost the same kind of ball for a six over mid-wicket moments ago. But again, that´s nerves and pressure for you!

 

[IAJ]

Not only that. On the 5th ball of the last over, Bould could have easily thrown the ball to the keeper to get Stokes out. Instead he ran the other batsman out at the runner's end. You could see him regretting right after. He lost his head under pressure.

It is easy to critisize him in hindsight. But the way he fields, most fast bowler can only dream of that. He stopped so many certain boundaries throughout the WC and in the final too. The margins was not on his side on one occasion, other than that he did a pretty good job.

 

[Rellu_Katta]

what abt Henry Nichollas losing the ball in the sun and giving away an extra run....

 

[DHONI183]

what abt Henry Nichollas losing the ball in the sun and giving away an extra run....

Well spotted! It was in the Super Over, wasn´t it?

 

[ssuhaide]

Eoin Morgan also made an error in not bowling out Woakes who had an over left, he had bowled Stokes for one too many so mistakes on all sides.

 

[Rellu_Katta]

Well spotted! It was in the Super Over, wasn´t it?

yes... it was the third ball i think... take tht 1 run off that over ... and we have clear winner .. but its still hypothetical

 

[rhony]

It is easy to critisize him in hindsight. But the way he fields, most fast bowler can only dream of that. He stopped so many certain boundaries throughout the WC and in the final too. The margins was not on his side on one occasion, other than that he did a pretty good job.

The strength of a player is based on clutch moments. Boult just panicked for the last 3 overs. That includes a six catch and 30 runs in 2 overs.

 

[Saj]

Very strange regarding that last ball.

I mean come on get something on it, even if it's your head and you end up scrambling a leg-bye.

 

[Abdullah]

What was it?

Scored 10, caught slip

 

[DHONI183]

Scored 10, caught slip

Ah´, it was your debut after all. Be more forgiving to yourself and results shall follow. Make sure that you engage yourself more in enjoying the occasion, than feeling any pressure.

 

[hadi123]

It was very strange. He should have gone for it.

 

[happydavy]

The innings were not being played mutually exclusively, unknown to each other. It's not that the too innings were being simultaneously, they were being played one after another. England knew what they were chasing and batted accordingly. So what santner did on the last ball was immaterial.

Some posters here think that had Santner scored 2 sixes of last 2 balls, then England would have been chasing 27 of 6 balls and not 15 as Ben Stokes would have played the same way had target been 12 runs extra. Low IQ, I guess.

It was England destiny. Pls watch the top down replay of Ben Stokes lucky boundary, had Ben's bat not touched the ball, the game would have been over then and there as Ben was too far away from crease. He was just about to get run out, just before things changed completely.

 

[DHONI183]

The innings were not being played mutually exclusively, unknown to each other. It's not that the too innings were being simultaneously, they were being played one after another. England knew what they were chasing and batted accordingly. So what santner did on the last ball was immaterial.

Some posters here think that had Santner scored 2 sixes of last 2 balls, then England would have been chasing 27 of 6 balls and not 15 as Ben Stokes would have played the same way had target been 12 runs extra. Low IQ, I guess.

It was England destiny. Pls watch the top down replay of Ben Stokes lucky boundary, had Ben's bat not touched the ball, the game would have been over then and there as Ben was too far away from crease. He was just about to get run out, just before things changed completely.

Brother, I agree with the overall sentiment conveyed in your post, as in hindsight we can pick out any dot ball from New Zealand´s innings to put the entire blame on it, but the reason why people are discussing this particular delivery is the fact that it was the LAST ball of their innings. For a batsman to duck under a ball in the last over itself is kind of a crime, and to do that off the last ball of the innings is one of the most unusual happenings on the cricket field. Quite poor from Santner, regardless of the result of the match; even if his team had won it.

On that lucky boundary incident. Well spotted. Watching it live I didn´t quite realise and was kind of childishly questioning the need of such an aggressive throw from Guptill, but watching it again the next day made me realise that Stokes could well have been caught short of the crease. Poor Kiwis!