In a game with countless turning points and decided, unforgettably, by the barest of margins, the first ball of last July’s World Cup final super over, bowled by Jofra Archer and called a wide by umpire Kumar Dharmesena, is easy to overlook.
Many felt the decision was a harsh one, with the ball seemingly passing over the lines painted to help the umpire judge if a ball is legal or not.
With every run crucial, England would have been desperate not to have one fewer to play with, and Archer has since revealed that he attempted to utilise the Decision Review System to refer the wide upstairs, only for his captain Eoin Morgan to inform him that that wasn’t possible, with that recourse only available for potential dismissals.
“I tried to review it actually, but Morgs said you can’t review a wide,” Archer said on ESPNcricinfo’s documentary The Jofra Archer Story. “That’s one less run you’ve got to play with in a super over.”
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Few will need reminding of the next six balls bowled by Archer, which ended with the scores level still and England winning the men’s World Cup for the first time ever by virtue of scoring more boundaries than New Zealand.
