British media flays umpires for Kanpur defeat

London, Nov 21 (UNI) The loss under Duckworth/Lewis method in the third ODI at Kanpur has not gone well with the British media which dubbed India's 16-run win as 'farcial' and lashed out at the on-field umpires Russell Tiffin and Amiesh Sahiba for their ''lack of common sense'' in the weather-hit match.

After a delayed start yesterday, which forced the match to be a 49-over-a-side, India was declared winners by 16 runs under Duckworth/Lewis method due to poor visibility and with it the home team took a 3-0 lead against England.

England captain Kevin Pietersen was left fuming at the decision and said his team was robbed of a chance to make it 1-2 in the seven-match ODI series by the match officials.

The British media here, endorsed Pietersen's views and said the visitors had a fair chance of winning their first match of the series which disappeared with the click of a light meter.

''The International Cricket Council is always changing its playing regulations, but one rule that it claims umpires can apply at any time is common sense, something utterly lacking in Kanpur,'' wrote 'The Daily Telegraph'.

''You could understand their (England players') anger at seeing their best chance of winning a game in this one-day series disappear at the click of a light meter,'' it added.

The daily further added that it was logic-defying on umpires part to deduct just one over per side after a delay of 45 minutes in the morning.

The newspaper was more vocal against Tiffin - the senior of the two umpires - for not reducing the duration of the lunch break, which was also pointed by Pietersen and English coach Peter Moores.

Although, most reports admit that India was the favourite to win the match in any case, The Times said, ''Roots of the farce had been planted by the match officials at the start of the day.

''Smog from the factories sustaining this manufacturing city lingered over Green Park Stadium (no irony intended, apparently) throughout the day and there could be no complaints against Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the India captain, as he accepted an offer of bad light knowing that his team were ahead on the Duckworth/Lewis method,'' it added.

The report also pointed out that while Pietersen and the rest of the England team surrounded Russell Tiffin, the senior umpire, ''Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan walked off with nine overs left, having ensured that India did not lose wickets after moving ahead of the required rate.'' ''Dhoni kept a copy of the Duckworth/Lewis calculations in his pocket and assessed the situation perfectly, knowing that the light was sure to fade sooner rather than later,'' the daily said.

The Telegraph noted, ''Unsurprisingly, India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, batting at the time, accepted the offer from umpires Russell Tiffin and Amit Saheba, though England's cricketers quickly surrounded the pair to complain.'' After the loss Pietersen said, ''It was frustrating and it's a pity that we couldn't get a full game in today. It is a very, very bitter pill to swallow, but what has happened, has happened.'' England head coach Peter Moores intends to submit a report to the ICC calling for more flexibility in match regulations.

''The umpires have their view of what happened and I have mine. The key is to make sure that this does not happen again.

We have to do everything possible to get the game in,'' Moores said.

Although, the ground has floodlights, it was agreed in advance of the series not to use them for daytime matches. However, last summer, the ICC gave referees more leeway to ensure that matches are completed.

The Independent also pointed out that although India were favourites to win, ''but plenty of matches have been lost from such situations in the past.

''It was why Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, was extremely keen to accept the umpires offer to leave the field, a move that brought an up until then intriguing match to its conclusion.

''Using the Duckworth/Lewis calculation India were 16 runs ahead of England at the time, and Dhoni knew that one good over from Andrew Flintoff could change the entire nature of the game,'' it added.

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