22(13) becomes 22(1) !!!
South Africa took on England in the semifinals match of 1992 world cup in Sydney. It was a rain affected game. As a result, both the sides could bat for only 45 overs. Opting to bat first, England had scored 252/6 in their 45 overs. South Africa were going pretty good in the run chase despite the hiccups.
South Africa needed just 22 runs in 13 balls with 4 wickets in hand and two batters with good nick [Brian McMillan 21(21) and David Richardson 13(10)] in the middle. But suddenly, the rain gods appeared. The brainfade rule of the organisers (That no play could continue after 9:30pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time) meant that no play could continue.
Add to that, lowest-scoring-over rules (Not today's Duckworth lewis rule) meant that the equation came down ridiculously from 22 off 13 to 22 off 1. That's gotta be Cricket’s most controversial match of All-time (Both technologically and regulationally).
6 runs, instead of 5 runs !!!
It was the 2019 world cup finals between England and New Zealand. Opting to bat first on a big day, New Zealand could post only 241/8 in their 50 overs. In reply, England were in a tough situation, having to score 15 runs in the last over with just 2 wickets in hand.
Ben Stokes was the batter and Trent Boult was the bowler. The equation came down to 9 from 3. That's when Stokes hit a low full toss of Boult towards deep midwicket region. Guptill collected the ball and threw towards the keeper's end, where the ball collided with Stokes' bat and raced towards the boundary ropes for the four.
Here's the rule of ICC for deflection off the bat -
Law 19.8 of the ICC rules, pertaining to 'Overthrow or wilful act of fielder' - "If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded to either side, and the allowance for the boundary, and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act."
But it was very evident even for the viewers that the second run was incomplete. But the collective brainfade decision from the main umpire and the leg side umpire meant that England were awarded an extra run. At that moment, nobody would've thought how costly would that decision turn out to be.
In the end, the match not just ended in a tie after the first 50 overs, but also got tied in the super over !! For such an incredible cricket match, the winner was decided based on the boundary count ! Imagine what would've been the result if that extra run wasn't awarded for England !
These two incidents are unarguably the most controversial ones in Cricket till date.
Image - Google.