Erasmus Says 2019 World Cup Final Call Was an Error

Excerpts from his upcoming memoir assert a throw that hit Ben Stokes was wrongly scored as a six and that the mistake led to a tied match and a deciding super over.

Overview

Marais Erasmus recounts in book extracts that, at square leg in the 2019 final, Martin Guptill’s throw struck Ben Stokes, ran to the boundary, and he and on-field colleague Kumar Dharmasena consulted before awarding six runs.
Erasmus says that Stokes and his running partner had not crossed at the moment the throw hit Stokes’ arm so the second run should not have counted and England should have been given five runs, which would have given New Zealand the win without a super over.
The passages are personal recollection published as excerpts ahead of the memoir’s June 15 release and do not report any official review or change to the 2019 match result.
Television coverage at the time included a ‘Super Over Explainer’ that noted a tied super over would be decided by boundary count, a rule that shaped public understanding of the final outcome.
The excerpts mix the World Cup account with career reflections on pressure and officiating in places like India and have renewed public attention to umpiring decisions and tie-break rules without providing independent verification of the claimed error.