Hayley Matthews narrowly survived being erroneously given out in farcical circumstances in the Women’s Premier League, with the Mumbai Indians opener standing her ground after being given out on review.

She managed to convince the umpires to look at the evidence again, at which point it became clear that the TV official had been watching the footage in reverse, with the ball hitting her bat before hitting her boot, rather than after as it had been judged at first.

The incident came in the fifth over of Mumbai Indians’ chase of 160 against UP Warriorz, with Sophie Ecclestone bowling to Hayley Matthews. The West Indies opener went to block the England left-arm spinner, but UP Warriorz went up in appeal believing the ball had hit toe just before boot. While the on-field umpire turned down their shouts, captain Alyssa Healy opted to go up for a review.

The first replay suggested the ball had hit bat first and then rebounded into Matthews’ boot, and Ecclestone walked back to her mark with Healy smiling sheepishly. “I don’t know if she could have got it any more in the middle of the bat,” said the on-air commentator. However, the UltraEdge review told a different tale, with the footage, as seen by the TV umpire, showing a spike on UltraEdge as the ball passed Matthews’ foot before striking her bat. With ball-tracking returning three reds – strangely, the impact point was taken as the moment the ball hit the bat – the on-field umpire was instructed to overturn her on-field decision.

Notably, Ecclestone, stationed behind the umpire, could be seen signalling that it was not out, and she ran to Matthews as her teammates began celebrating to start a discussion.

Matthews looked non-plussed and stood her ground, with her partner Yastika Bhatia making a ‘review’ signal with her bat and arm. “Can you review the review?” Lisa Sthalekar quipped on commentary.

Matthews began to walk off, but the TV umpire eventually looked at the moment again. It then became clear that the ball had hit the middle of Matthews’ bat before rebounding and hitting her boot, and so that she should be ruled not out. The UltraEdge the umpire had seen previously had shown the delivery in reverse – instead of showing the ball hitting bat then boot, it showed the ball hitting boot than bat.

There was more DRS drama two balls later, with Healy reviewing a caught-behind decision against Bhatia. The Mumbai Indians opener began to walk after the review was taken, but UltraEdge gave no evidence that she had hit the ball, and so she resumed her innings, with Healy looking puzzled.

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Mumbai Indians Women's CricketSophie EcclestoneSeries EditorialWomen's IPL 2023