England and Wales Cricket Board director of cricket Ashley Giles has defended Sunday’s controversial victory over New Zealand in the World Cup final at Lord’s in London.

England were awarded the title on the back of a superior boundary count, after the scores were tied after 100 overs and the Super Over ended in a deadlock.

Their victory has since been questioned, especially after former international umpire Simon Taufel insisted the deflection off all-rounder Ben Stokes’ bat should have yielded five runs, not six.

‘You could argue the last ball that Trent Boult bowled was a full toss on leg stump and if Stokes hadn’t just been looking for two, he probably would’ve banged it out of the ground anyway,’ said Giles.

‘We are world champions. We have got the trophy and we intend to keep it.’

Sunday’s win marked England’s first in a World Cup final, albeit in controversial circumstances. They had previously suffered final defeats by the West Indies, Australia and Pakistan in 1979, 1987 and 1992, respectively.

‘It’s a clear mistake, it’s an error of judgment,’ Taufel, a member of the MCC laws sub-committee, told foxsports.com.au.

‘In the heat of what was going on, they thought there was a good chance the batsmen had crossed at the instant of the throw. Obviously television replays showed otherwise.

‘The difficulty you have here is you’ve got to watch batsmen completing runs, then change focus and watch for the ball being picked up, and watch for the release of the throw.

‘You also have to watch where the batsmen are at that exact moment. It’s unfair on England, New Zealand and the umpires involved to say it decided the outcome.’

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