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Retired Umpire Erasmus Admits 2019 WC Final Blunder That Hurt New Zealand

Erasmus & Dharmasena - Umpires of WC 2019 final (X.com)Erasmus & Dharmasena - Umpires of WC 2019 final (X.com)

Marais Erasmus was a cricket umpire involved in several controversies. He retired recently after officiating his 82nd match in Christchurch, where New Zealand played against Australia. He was the field umpire during the World Cup 2019 Final and the incident of a timed-out error in the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh game as well. 

Additionally, he served as the third umpire in the controversial second Ashes Test of the last Ashes series. After retiring, the South African umpire admitted to making mistakes during the 2019 World Cup, which may have contributed to England winning their first ODI world cup. 

In what's considered one of the most thrilling ODI matches in history, a crucial error occurred that led to England becoming champions. 

During the game, England required 9 runs off the last 3 balls, with Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid at the crease. When Stokes attempted a second run, a throw from Martin Guptill struck Stokes' bat as he dove for the crease, resulting in the ball deflecting to the boundary. 

Umpires Erasmus and his partner-on-field Kumar Dharmasena mistakenly awarded 6 runs for the incident, although it should have been only five since the batsmen hadn't completed the second run.  

This decision proved pivotal as England tied the game, leading to a super over, which also ended in a tie. Ultimately, England won the match based on the boundary count rule.

"The next morning I opened my hotel room door on my way to breakfast and Kumar opened his door at the same time and he said, 'did you see we made a massive error?" Erasmus told the UK's Daily Telegraph.

He also committed a significant error in same game by wrongly giving Ross Taylor out for LBW when replays indicated he was not out. 

Taylor was dismissed for 15 runs off 31 balls, despite the evidence suggesting that Mark Wood's delivery would have missed the stump. Unfortunately, the BlackCaps couldn't review the decision as they had already used their review.