"They had to make a judgement call on the day [...] They certainly followed the right process when making the decision"
Saturday 27 July 2019 18:04, UK
The umpire who awarded England six runs after overthrows in their World Cup final victory over New Zealand has been backed by the International Cricket Council.
Kumar Dharmasena controversially decided England should receive six runs when a fielder's throw struck Ben Stokes' bat after he had dived to complete two runs and went to the boundary.
The overthrows gave England new hope to reach New Zealand's total of 241-8 as they found themselves needing 15 runs off four deliveries just two balls earlier.
England ended up tied on runs with their opponents, leading the game into a Super Over which they eventually won by matching the guests' 15-run tally and prevailing by virtue of hitting the most boundaries in the match - 26 to New Zealand's 17.
Cricket's governing body has come out in support of Dharmasena, stating how the umpire followed the right protocol in awarding the runs.
"They [on-field umpires] had to make a judgement call on the day as to whether the batsmen had crossed when the throw was released," ICC's general manager of cricket Geoff Allardice told ESPNcricinfo.
"After everything that went on during that delivery, they got together over their comms system and made their decision. 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."
Following the game, Dharmasena defended his decision but admitted he and the other umpires made a "judgmental error".
"I agree that there was a judgmental error when I see it on TV replays now," Dharmasena told the Sunday Times.
"But we did not have the luxury of TV replays at the ground and I will never regret the decision I made."
According to the MCC rule book, in the instance of a fielder's overthrow, the runs scored shall include the boundary and the runs completed by the batsmen if they had already crossed by the time the ball had been thrown.
