Kumar Dharmasena admits his 'error' in World Cup 2019 final overthrow controversy
Colombo: The umpire who awarded England six runs from a freak overthrow in the last over of the World Cup final has admitted he made an "error" and should have given one run fewer, a report said on Sunday.
A throw to the stumps deflected off the bat of a diving Ben Stokes as he tried to complete a second run and raced to the boundary, with Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena awarding six runs to England. Three balls later, the scores at 50 overs were tied as England had reached 241 all-out replying to New Zealand's 241-8.
It took the nail-biting final to a Super Over which again was tied but England lifted the trophy by virtue of having scored more boundaries. Critics, including former umpire Simon Taufel, said England should have been awarded five runs, not six, as the batsmen had not crossed for the second run at the moment the ball was thrown.
Former Sri Lankan Test player Dharmasena told the Sunday Times that he did not have the benefit of television replays which could show that the batsmen had not crossed. "I agree that there was an error of judgement when I see it on TV replays now," said Dharmasena, who was umpiring the final with South Africa's Marais Erasmus.
"But we did not have the luxury of TV replays at the ground and I do not regret the decision I made," Dharmasena said he signalled six after consulting the other match officials. "So, I did consult the leg umpire (Erasmus) through the communication system which is heard by all other umpires and the match referee," he told the newspaper.
"While they cannot check TV replays, they all confirmed that the batsmen have completed the second run. This is when I made my decision." Taufel had told Fox Sports Australia that the umpires made a "clear mistake" as the batsmen had not crossed for their second run.
But the Australian also defended the match umpires, who he said, had to make a complicated judgement and said it would be "unfair" to say the decision altered the outcome of the tournament as it was impossible to know what would have happened in the final balls had five runs been awarded.
Courtesy: www.firstpost.com
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
