Nothing went right in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup. India and Pakistan suffered early exits while Bob Woolmer was found dead under mysterious circumstances shortly after Pakistan suffered a shocking loss at the hands of Ireland. To add to the tournament's woes, a blunder by match officials meant that the final of the 2007 World Cup came to end with a farcical finish in darkness.
The start of the game on 28 April, 2007, was delayed because of rain. In the rain-marred final, which was reduced to 38 overs per side, Adam Gilchrist's brutal assault on the Lankan bowlers meant that Australia finished with a commanding 281/4.
Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara scored half-centuries, but Australia kept picking up wickets at regular intervals to put Sri Lanka on the back-foot. With no floodlights at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados and the light fading, it seemed obvious that the match would be decided on basis of the D/L method when players were called off after the 33rd over.
Australia, when they were off, were already celebrating as they thought that the umpires calling them off for bad light meant that they won the game as per the D/L method. While the followers of the game clearly know that 20 overs in the second innings is enough to constitute a result in case of rain or bad light, the officials, it appeared, were unaware of the rule as they called the players back, asking Australia to bowl three more overs.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting and Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene were perplexed, as were the rest of the players, when they were called back onto the field. On-field umpires Steve Bucknor and Aleem Dar, third umpire Rudy Koertzen and match referee Jeff Crowe are all knowledgeable men. However, their lack of awareness of the basic playing conditions meant that Ponting and Jayawardene had to come up with an arrangement where the Australians agreed to bowl as slow as possible to ensure that no Sri Lankan batsmen were hurt in the three overs that they played in almost complete darkness. Had they not played out those three overs, the umpires had informed the teams that they had to come back on the reserve day.
The match ended with Sri Lanka finishing at 215/8 in 36 overs. Australia won the match by 53 runs (D/L method) to lift their third title in a row. Even as the officials were booed during the presentation ceremony for their foolish move, match referee Crowe admitted that it was a mistake on his part, while he also suggested that umpire Koertzen misread the situation.
"In hindsight, I should have known the rules and said the game had been called off. I'm very embarrassed for the playing control team today. For me, the real confusion has come from the fact we were talking about resuming the game tomorrow, which was technically wrong. Rudi was talking about the allowances and talking about the possibility of tomorrow. I don't think it's Rudi's mistake, it's a collective mistake. The fact Rudi might maybe have suggested it early doesn't mean the other umpires couldn't have over-ruled him. The two on-field umpires are the ones who control the match," Crowe said.
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