NZ coach wants rules review after 'hollow' World Cup final

WELLINGTON, July 16 (AFP): New Zealand coach Gary Stead has called for the Cricket World Cup's rules to be overhauled, labelling the showpiece final "hollow" after England defeated the Black Caps on a technicality.

The teams could not be separated at the end of both regular play and a Super Over shootout, so England were handed victory because they had a superior boundary count.

"It's a very, very hollow feeling that you can play 100 overs and score the same amount of runs and still lose the game, but that's the technicalities of sport," Stead told reporters in remarks released by New Zealand Cricket on Tuesday. Cricket chiefs should consider allowing teams to share the World Cup if a final is tied again, says Stead.

He said such a thrilling match, which has been hailed by many experts as the greatest one-day game in history, deserved a better way to determine the result.

"There's going to be many things they look at over the whole tournament -- I'm sure when they were writing the rules they never expected a World Cup final to happen like that," he said.