New Zealand Cricket and Westpac Stadium have admitted they were wrong in removing a banner promoting sexual consent during the first T20I between India and New Zealand at Wellington.

All-rounder Scott Kuggeleijn was accused of raping a woman back in 2017, but he was cleared in the case and wasn't found guilty in the incident. The banner which read, "no means no", was directed towards Scott. It was displayed by a fan in the crowd. 

Richard Boock, New Zealand Cricket’s public affairs manager, opened up on the incident and said, “We agree the course of action taken was an overreaction and unnecessary, and that the message certainly wasn’t offensive. NZC has a venue policy that does not allow the targeting of players – but policies are guidelines; they’re not written in stone, and we should have shown better judgment and exercised more discretion."

"We apologize unreservedly and will be discussing this in our debrief with a view to avoiding similar mistakes in the future,” he added.

The woman who was holding up the sign told Stuff she was escorted from her seat by security who attempted to confiscate the sign. "My friends and I were surrounded by multiple security guards. It was a very uncomfortable experience."

(With Inputs from www.nzherald.co.nz)