Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena was found in the midst of heavy backlash when he falsely ruled England opener Jason Roy out during the Three Lions’ semi-final clash against the defending champions, Australia.
Regardless of the flak he received from the fans, he along with Marais Erasmus were named as the on-field umpires for the final between England and New Zealand at Lord’s. And in the seventh over of New Zealand’s, Dharmasena raised his finger to rule Martin Guptill out off Chris Woakes’ delivery. The opener opted for review and as it turned out, the ball had missed the wicket.
And for the second time running, the Sri Lankan umpire got it wrong when Kane Williamson edged the ball to get caught behind by keeper Jos Buttler. Dharmasena nodded his head and Eoin Morgan was quick to go for the review. And the Kiwis’ captain was gone…
Reacting to his decisions, fans on Twitter have been quite vocal about their criticism of the umpire and this is how they are reacting to it:
#CWC19Final #ENGvsNZ
*Just take ONE decision correctly*
Dharmasena:
Jagzzz (@iamjagriti_), July 14, 2019
Dharmasena Today#CWC19Final
Ahmad Raza (@sarj05), July 14, 2019
There’s a separate World Cup final going on between Dharmasena and Erasmus. #CWC19Final #ENGvsNZ
Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja), July 14, 2019
Erasmus with England while Dharmasena with NZ..!! Too much FUN #CWC19 #CWC19Final #ENGvNZ
$h@r!q | شارق (@Im_Shariq), July 14, 2019
@ICC please provide teams with additional two DRS challenges when Dharmasena is umpiring #CWC19Final
Rajat Rana (@thisisrko), July 14, 2019
Dharmasena should be forced to explain his decisions to the icc and who ever appointed him should be taken out and shot he has spoiled a final
Peter Wilcox (@wilcopg68), July 14, 2019
What an exciting World Cup Final between Dharmasena and Erasmus. #CWC19Final #ENGvsNZ
ANURAG (@anuragashk), July 14, 2019
Tell me better story than Dharmasena & DRS. #ENGvsNZ
M€☈ꍏJ☋◗◗iN ⓢi◗◗iQ☋i (@Siddiquii_says), July 14, 2019
Some of the famous people from different countries who fought against the British:
India – Mahatma Gandhi.
South Africa – Nelson Mandela.
Sri Lanka – Kumar Dharmasena. #ENGvNZ #CWC19Finals#Dharmasena #guptill #Williamson
I Was Tarzan (@iwastarzan), July 14, 2019
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @iMMujahidMalik