McCullum made the dismissal while Sangakkara celebrated

McCullum dismissed Muralitharan when the tail-ender left his crease to celebrate Kumar Sangakkara's century.

Batsman Nathan Astle said: "We're fully behind Baz. I've been surprised by the reaction - it's totally unjustified."

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said: "It was a lapse of concentration and it was out."

Snedden added that South African umpire Brian Jerling could have approached captain Stephen Fleming and asked if they wanted to proceed with the dismissal, but he did not.

"The umpires take the same view as us," he told Radio Sport.

After ending the tail-end partnership of 27 by bowling Sri Lanka out for 170 in Christchurch, New Zealand went on to win the match by five wickets with two days to spare.

I never thought it the wrong thing to do; the rules are there and you can't reward stupidity Brendon McCullum

A stunned Sangakkara was quick to point out that he had declined to run out Astle in similar circumstances when the two teams met in the recent Champions Trophy tournament.

"I could have broken the stumps but I knew there wasn't a run being attempted," Sangakkara said.

"I said jokingly, 'You should know better than that'. It was all in fun, it would have been pretty absurd of me to break the stumps."

"Players take it for granted, once the ball's gone you're allowed a certain leeway when it comes to courtesies extended between sides," he said.

"Murali was out but it's a case of how you want to interpret the rules.

"A lot is said about match referees and umpires being the guardians of the game but the players have a lot of responsibility as well."

McCullum said he was shocked by the widespread adverse reaction to what was a legitimate dismissal.

"I didn't expect the repercussions from it, it's been pretty hard to swallow," McCullum said.

"I never thought it the wrong thing to do; the rules are there and you can't reward stupidity."