'Congrats Australia!' proclaims the scoreboard at the Kensington Oval on April 28 after the Sri Lankan players take up the option of bad light and walk off the field to hand Australia a hat-trick of World Cup titles.
The announcement, however, was premature as the players were ordered to complete the three remaining overs in the rain-shorted final in virtual darkness.
Also read: ICC apologises for farcical final
"I actually thought he (the umpire) was having a bit of a joke with us to try and stop our celebrations or something. He said 'it looks like you'll have to come back tomorrow and play three overs'. I stopped and looked at him and said 'mate, we've played the 20 overs, we've finished the game'. It was a little bit disappointing way to end a World Cup" -- Australian captain Ricky Ponting reacting to the farcical end to the tournament following his team's 53-run win.
"The umpires said we had to play three overs. We were surprised, we found out later they had got it wrong" -- Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene on the confusion.
"The game was technically over because a 20-over match had been completed. It was a human error" -- match referee Jeff Crowe admits the officials made the wrong call by asking the teams to play the final three overs.
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