London, July 21 (IBNS): Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena has defended his decision to give six runs to England in the fourth of the super over that basically handed the world cup over the the host country.
"It’s easy for people to comment after seeing TV replays,” Dharmasena told the Sunday Times.
“I agree that there was a judgment al error when I see it on TV replays now. But we did not have the luxury of TV replays at the ground and I will never regret the decision I made. Beside the ICC praised me for the decision I made at that time,” he added.
At the end of 50 over a side and the super over, both England and New Zealand had the same number of runs but England won of an ICC rule that made the team that scored more boundaries the winner.
On the fourth over, the incident happened in the fourth ball of the final over when a throw from deep midwicket accidentally ricocheted off the bat of a diving Ben Stokes at the striker’s end and raced away to the third man boundary.
World cup winning cricketer Dharmasena, who was the umpire, consulted with Marais Erasmus, the leg umpire, and decided to award six runs–two scored by Stokes and four for the overthrow.
“There is no provision in the law to refer this to the third umpire as no dismissal was involved,” he said.
“So, I did consult the leg umpire through the communication system which is heard by all other umpires and the match referee. And, while they cannot check TV replays, they all confirmed that the batsmen have completed the run. This is when I made my decision.”
After England was declared the winner of the Cricket World Cup, former umpire Simon Taufel confirmed that England should only have been awarded five runs, not six, but stressed it would be unfair to suggest the umpiring error cost New Zealand the trophy in one of the most remarkable cricket matches ever played.
ICC's rule to make the team with more number of boundaries the winner has invited a lot of criticism.
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