ICC Defends Kumar Dharmasena's Incorrect Decision In World Cup Final

The International Cricket Council has defended the overthrow decision which was made by Kumar Dharmasena in the World Cup final between England and New Zealand. The Sri Lankan umpire had signalled six overthrow runs when the ball had deflected off the bat of Ben Stokes. The batsmen had not crossed and the umpire should have given five runs instead of six.

Meanwhile, Kumar Dharmasena had to make the decision in the heat of the moment. The third umpire didn’t intervene in between and later Dharmasena claimed that he will not regret the decision he made in the final of the World Cup.

The umpires followed the right rules.

ICC General manager Geoff Allardice stated that the umpire made their decision after discussing with each other and they followed the right protocol.

“After everything that went on during that delivery, they got together over their comms system and made their decision,” he said while talking to ESPN Cricinfo.

“They certainly followed the right process when making the decision.”

“They were aware of the law when they made the judgement about whether the batsmen had crossed or not at the time.

“The playing conditions don’t allow them to refer to such a decision to a third umpire. The match referee cannot intervene when the umpires on the field have to make a judgement call like that.”

Meanwhile, there were suggestions that the World Cup trophy should have been shared after the match ended in a tie. Furthermore, the Super Over also ended in a tie and many former players believe the trophy should have been shared between the two teams. However, the rules have been in place and there had to be a winner.