England claimed their first World Cup title in thrilling circumstances at Lord's, ending 44 years of misery in the prestigious one-day tournament and sending a nation into raptures.

Their match against the Black Caps was tied after both sides had batted 50 overs, and then again after a super over. The hosts ultimately prevailed on a count of boundaries scored, which is the tiebreaker used to split teams in the event of a tied super over.

Chasing 242 for victory, England needed nine from the final three balls of their regulation 50-overs. All-rounder Ben Stokes struck the ball into the deep off the third-last ball, and scampered back for a second run.

But a throw from New Zealand's Martin Guptill ricocheted off Stokes' bat as the batsman dived home, running away for four overthrows. England were awarded six runs.

However, according to Law 19.8, pertaining to an "overthrow or wilful act of fielder", Stokes should only have been credited for five runs.

"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," the law says.

Replays showed that Stokes and non-striker Adil Rashid hadn't crossed at the time of the throw.

Retired Australian umpire Taufel, named International Cricket Council umpire of the year every year from 2004 to 2008, stood in the 2011 World Cup final, and is a member of the MCC Laws subcommittee. He was also the ICC's manager of umpire performance and training as recently as 2015.

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Taufel defended officiating umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus, who were in the middle for the chaotic finish, but confirmed they had made a mistake.

"There was a judgment error on the overthrow," Taufel told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

"The judgment error was the timing of when the fielder threw the ball. The act of the overthrow starts when the fielder releases the ball. That's the act.

"It becomes an overthrow from the instant of the throw."

Taufel explained that the umpires had a raft of things to consider every ball.

"In this particular case, the umpires have got a lot on their plate, because like every ball, they've had to watch the batsmen complete the first run, they've had to watch the ball being fielded, to understand how it's in play, whether the fielder's done the right thing. Then they've got to look to see when the ball is released, in case there is an overthrow. And that happens every delivery of the game. And then they've got to back to see where the two batsmen are.

"They've then got to follow on and see what happens after that, whether there is a run out, whether there's an 'obstructing the field', whether the ball is taken fairly. There's multitudes of decisions to be taken off the one delivery. What's unfortunate is that people think that umpiring is just about outs and not outs. They forget we make 1000s of decisions every match.

"So it's unfortunate that there was a judgment error on the timing of the release of the ball and where the batsmen were. They did not cross on their second run, at the instant of the throw. So given that scenario, five runs should have been the correct allocation of runs, and Ben Stokes should have been at the non-striker's end for the next delivery.

"We're not perfect. You've got the best two umpires in the elite panel doing the final. They're doing their best like the other two teams are. This is just part of the game.

"I think it's unfair to say that the World Cup was decided by that one event. There's a lot of 'what ifs' and 'what should bes' and 'what could bes' that happen off those 600-plus deliveries. That's the nature of sport."

A spokeswoman for the ICC said: "The umpires take decisions in the field of play with their interpretations of the rules and we don't comment on any decisions as a matter of policy."

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was gracious when he was asked about the overthrow incident after the Black Caps' heartbreaking defeat, describing it as an "uncontrollable" part of the game.

"The rule has been there for a long time," Williamson said. "I don't think anything like that's happened (before) where you now question it.

"There were so many other bits and pieces to that game that were so important."

Stokes, for his part, immediately raised his hands to apologise for the incident, with the England allrounder clearly having no intention to deflect the ball.

"I wasn't celebrating," England captain Eoin Morgan said. "It is not something you celebrate or cheer."

Morgan said the victory meant the world to England.

The Age