ICC apologizes for Super Over blunder
The International Cricket Council has apologized to Ireland and Scotland for the Super Over blunder following a tie between the two teams on June 17. It became the tenth tied T20I as Ireland ended up scoring 185 runs in 20 overs while chasing a target of 186, set by Scotland.
Under the ICC playing conditions for T20Is adopted in September last year, Law 16.3.1 states: “If the scores are equal, the result shall be a tie and no account shall be taken of the number of wickets that have fallen. In the event of a tied match the teams shall compete in a Super Over to determine the winner.”
The global governing body of the game has admitted that match referee David Jukes and the on-field umpires, Allan Haggo and WPM van Liemt, erred at the end of the tie and should have opted for a Super Over to determine a winner, according to the ICC’s playing conditions for T20Is.
“The match officials misinterpreted the T20I playing conditions which prevented the Super Over taking place following a tied match,” an ICC spokesperson reportedly said.
“This was a genuine oversight for which the ICC offers its sincere apologies to both Scotland and Ireland. We have picked up the matter with the officials and will mitigate against this happening in the future.”
It could have been Scotland’s only second victory over a Test playing nation in T20Is if they defeated Ireland in a Super Over. They had defeated Bangladesh in 2012 in the Netherlands.
On the other hand, Ireland could have kept their title hopes alive with a title win. They lost back-to-back matches to the Netherlands in the beginning of the series. A win followed by a draw in their next two games against Scotland has thrown them out of the title-race and their final position in the bottom two spots will now depend on the result of the remaining match between Scotland and the Netherlands. The first clash between the two has resulted in a victory for Scotland on Tuesday (June 19).
