ENG vs NZ | Twitter reacts to Kumar Dharmasena’s unsuccessful assist for Kiwis to redeem 2019 final gaffe

SportsCafe Desk
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A glaring Kumar Dharmasena error in a World Cup game between England and New Zealand, sound familiar? Following his antics in the 2019 final, the umpire was at it again in the 2023 opener as he guided New Zealand during a DRS discussion, only for the Black Caps to foolishly ignore him all the same.

New Zealand won the toss and chose to field first at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday in a bid to reverse their fortunes from the iconic final four years ago. Unlike that game, however, Dawid Malan walked out to open in Ahmedabad alongside Jonny Bairstow and was the subject of a huge appeal very early on in the innings but in an eerily similar fashion, it was Kumar Dharmasena who was once again thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Matt Henry took the new ball in the second over of the game and had Malan charging down the track on the very first delivery. A hint of movement meant the opener was struck on his pads, provoking a loud shout from the opposition. However, the umpire Kumar Dharmasena stood his ground and in an unprecedented act, immediately gestured that the ball was too high. In the DRS era, the officials are not supposed to provide any help to the on-field players before the 15-second timer for the appeal runs out. Nevertheless, the umpire’s interference proved to be inconsequential as stand-in skipper Tom Latham ended up taking a review anyway which simply confirmed Dharmasena’s suspicion.

Twitterati was quick to pounce upon Dharmasena’s unrequited kindness, labelling it as the Sri Lankan’s attempt at correcting the injustice of the 2019 final where he had incorrectly awarded a decisive extra run to the English.  

Are you kidding?

Living Legend!

Only he knows about it!

Hahaha!

Few things doesn't change!

They themselves!

Easy!

That was not needed!

He will do it better this time!

Yes! They lost.

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