Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena once again hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons as once again decisions made by him were overturned. In the seventh over of the match, Chris Woakes hit Martin Guptill on his pad. Dharmasena straightaway raised his finger, declaring him out.
Guptill, after discussions with Henry Nicholls, went for a review and replays showed that the ball was missing the stumps. It wasn’t even umpire’s call and the decision was reversed.
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Once again, a decision made by Dharmasena was reversed. Kane Williamson had edged a delivery off Liam Plunkett to wicket-keeper Jos Buttler. The umpire did not hear anything and adjudged him not out.
England skipper Eoin Morgan was confident and straightaway asked for a review, that showed a clear edge. Williamson was dismissed and another decision made by the Sri Lankan was reversed
Twitterati were unimpressed with continues gaffes from Dharmasena and vented out their frustration on the umpire –
https://twitter.com/ImSMujeeb/status/1150373354320347136
Why on earth is Kumar Dharmasena officiating in the Cricket World Cup final after his abysmal performances throughout the tournament? A poor decision by ICC! #CWC19Final #CWC2019 #ItsComingHome
— Ahsan Khan (@ahsanaftabkhan) July 14, 2019
Why Kumar Dharmasena is selected as umpire for the world cup final like in semifinal he made umpiring error against England and now in final he already made two errors which seriously can cost any team a match… @cricbuzz @cricketworldcup #CricketWorldCup #ENGvsNZ #ENGvNZ
— FAIZAN ALI (@_______ali) July 14, 2019
Just Kumar Dharmasena things #ENGvsNZ pic.twitter.com/3qh6PArrFG
— Pranav. (@pranavkudav) July 14, 2019
Kumar Dharmasena while umpiring…#ENGvsNZ pic.twitter.com/PlHB56Z8Wn
— DnyaneshwarDk7 (@Dnyaneshwar_DK7) July 14, 2019
https://twitter.com/freddieefaizan/status/1150371212658270208
https://twitter.com/mike_gee38/status/1150370232713842688
https://twitter.com/dushyantdd9/status/1150370156427784194
Dharmasena was under scanner during the previous match between England and Australia as well. He had adjudged Jason Roy out even when there was a big gap between hs bat and the ball.
For once, he seemed to be confident that there was no contact between bat and the ball and it looked like he changed his mind after looking at appeal from Australians. Roy was so frustrated with Dharmasena that he even had a mouthful for the umpire. Later, he was fined by ICC for showing dissent to umpire’s decision.
Meanwhile, England have made a comeback in the final as they have scalped two quick wickets in the form of Williamson and Nicholls. After 31 overs, Black Caps are three down at a score of 130.
The team will need to touch a score of 300 to put England under pressure or else, The Three Lions will have no difficulties in chasing down the target.
Neither New Zealand nor England have won the 50-over World Cup.