‘Umpire hora’ is a famous cry in this country whether be it at backyard cricket after school, soft ball games played on the Parliament grounds during the weekend, inter-school fixtures or even during international games. Some 25,000 ardent cricket fans were yelling the same on Wednesday night as Sri Lanka lost a tense game against Afghanistan at Dambulla by a mere three runs.
Not just those fans who witnessed the game at the Dambulla stadium but the majority of the hundreds of thousands who saw it on television seemed to be convinced that Umpire Lyndon Hannibal, a Sri Lankan and no foreigner, got it awfully wrong that night. His fault was that he didn’t call a no ball after Wafadar Momand sent down a high full toss. A waist high full toss is called a ‘no ball’ and a free hit given according to playing conditions. This contentious delivery was not just waist high but a chest high full toss and should have been called a no ball. Did Hannibal cost Sri Lanka the game? Well, we will never know.
If that delivery had been called a ‘no ball,’ Sri Lanka would have got a free hit, an additional run and would have needed 10 runs in three balls to win the game and sweep the series. Could Kamindu Mendis have pulled it off? Quite possible. But here’s what we do know though. Sri Lanka have never successfully chased more than 200 runs to win a T-20 International
It’s a Sri Lankan trait to blame all else but themselves when things don’t go our way. The team didn’t lose the game because of Hannibal. They lost the game because they gave Ramanulah Gurbaz two lives when he was on 22 and 55. Their poor ground fielding conceded more than …read more
Source:: The Island