The objective of the sport of cricket is to win matches by scoring more number of runs than the opposition team. Each team features eleven players who bat and bowl alternatively. A test cricket match is a professional match where both teams bat twice alternatively whereas in limited-overs cricket like ODIs and T20s, teams bat for 50 and 20 overs respectively.
There are three possible outcomes of a cricket match – win/loss, draw, and tie. A tie is when both teams end up scoring the same number of runs. In such cases, teams either share a point each (in a tournament) or decide the winner by further match play. Historically, a tied match has been decided by a bowl out, super over and boundary count. This article explains the latter.
A super over is played in limited-overs cricket when the teams are tied at the same score. However, if the teams score the same number of runs in the Super Over, then another Super Over is played between the two sides until one team emerges as the clear victor by scoring more runs. However, a previous rule, as recent as 2019, stated that when teams are tied in a Super Over, then the team who hit more number of boundaries in the entire match is declared the winner. Boundaries are the number of fours and sixes that are hit by a team.
The only match to be decided by the boundary-count rule is the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand. The decision was controversial, and after two months, the boundary-count rule was scraped off.
