Kent have lodged an official appeal with the ECB regarding the result of their match against Sussex on Monday. The game was declared a tie after Sussex ran a single off the last ball amidst early celebrations from the Kent players, who believed the ball to be already dead.
Sussex required two to win off the final ball as Kent and England captain Charlotte Edwards ran up to bowl. Batsman Ellen Burt missed the ball and Kent keeper Lauren Griffiths then removed a bail in a failed attempted stumping, but Burt’s partner Izzy Collis was already halfway down the pitch and the pair completed the single, while Kent erroneously celebrated victory.
Kent attempted to dispute the run but, after lengthy discussions with the players, the umpires ruled that the ball had not been dead at the time of the run and the match was therefore declared a tie.
Appealing the result of a match is thought to be unprecedented in the 18-year history of the women’s county championship, and there is nothing in the playing conditions regarding the process. It is therefore unclear how the ECB will proceed from here.
A full report of the match can be found here.
CRICKETher 
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Seems me to be an open-and-shut case: the result should stand.
Firstly and most importantly, Law 21.10 (Result not to be changed) prevents any such alteration of the match result.
Secondly, even if a result could hypothetically be changed, in this case the umpires appear to have made the correct call. Law 23.1a(i) (Dead ball) specifies that the ball only becomes dead when it is “finally settled in the hands of the wicket-keeper.” Presumably Kent maintain that it had been settled in that way. However, Law 21.1(b) goes on to say that “the ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batsmen at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.” Since the batters clearly hadn’t regarded it as dead, the umpires were perfectly justified in allowing play to continue.
On a separate note, shouldn’t the result actually be a draw, rather than a tie? The final innings hasn’t been completed, so as far as I can see, it can’t be a tie (Law 21.5a), although one requirement of a tie has been fulfilled, that of the scores being level.
http://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-21-the-result/
http://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-23-dead-ball/
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Further to my last point regarding whether the result should be a tie or a draw: a tie is the correct result, as this was a limited-overs match (the full name of the competition being the “ECB Women’s One-Day Championship”).
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