Controversy over toss

The World Cup final was off to a bizarre start with the toss having to be retaken here on Saturday afternoon.

On the first occasion, Kumar Sangakkara called `heads' after Mahendra Singh Dhoni tossed the coin. However, match referee Jeff Crowe did not hear the Sri Lankan captain's voice amid the din at the Wankhede Stadium that was already packed.

And Dhoni mistook Sangakkara's call as `tails.' Sangakkara, however, contested that his choice had been `heads' and Crowe said that he had not heard what the Sri Lankan captain said.

The spin of the coin had to be gone through again and Sangakkara shouted `heads' for the second time. This time his call was audible to everyone. The Sri Lankan captain had won the toss as well.

This is not the first occasion that former New Zealand captain Jeff Crowe had been involved in a controversy in a World Cup final. In fact, Crowe was the match-referee in the 2007 summit clash between Australia and Sri Lanka at Bridgetown's Kensington Oval.

It was a match where Sri Lanka, following an error of judgment by the match officials, was made to come back and play three extra overs under very poor light when Australia should have been declared winner since 20 overs had already been completed in the innings.

Australia, eventually, triumphed by 53 runs under the Duckworth and Lewis method. Crowe, later, took the blame on himself for the fiasco in a Cup final.