Umpire Kumar Dharmasena: I do not regret the decision I made

Umpire Dharmasena signals six runs during the WC final between England and New Zealand. Pic /Bipin Patel

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 yesterday. 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 umpire Kumar Dharmasena awarding six runs.'

Three balls later the scores, at 50 overs, were tied as England reached 241 all out replying to NZ's 241-8. It took a Super Over which again was tied but England won 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.

England's Stokes dives to complete a run as the ball hits him and travels to the boundary during the World Cup final at Lord's recently. Pic/AFP

Dharmasena said he did not have the benefit of television replays which showed the batsmen had not crossed. "I agree that there was an error of judgement when I see it on TV replays now," Dharmasena, who was umpiring the final with South Africa's Marais Erasmus, told the local Sunday Times. "But we did not have the luxury of TV replays at the ground and I do not regret the decision I made."

Also read: Ashley Giles brushes off 'extra run' claim in England's WC win

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. While they cannot check TV replays, they all confirmed that the batsmen have completed the second run. This is when I made my decision," he said.

Also read: World Cup 2019: Did umpire Kumar Dharmasena's wrong call cost NZ the WC? ICC declines comment

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