Having made his way to 31, he set off immediately after pushing off-spinner Baba Aparajith down the ground, but his batting partner Raynard van Tonder, seeing the ball coming his way, didn’t respond at first.

Instead, van Tonder attempted to take evasive action, sticking his right leg out to allow the ball to pass through. The ball struck his right heel and rebounded onto his left heel, rolling just behind the crease. Van Tonder sent Malan back, but both batters slipped as they turned. By the time he regathered himself, Aparajith had collected the ball, throwing it to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps to complete the stumping.

The dismissal was an important one in the context of the game. With South Africa A having claimed a small first-innings lead, they looked to be getting out of reach of India A after making their way to 98-1. The wicket set in motion a slide, however, with the second-string Proteas slumping to 188-9. A brief last-wicket flurry set the tourists 234 to win, with India A 64-2 at the time of writing.

It’s not the first weird run out to play a part in the contest. South Africa A’s first innings was brought to an end in odd fashion, with the non-striker leaving his ground at just the wrong moment after a rebound from the bowler’s boot.

Malan has played three Tests for the Proteas, all during England’s 3-1 series win in 2019/20, while the highly rated van Tonder is yet to make his international debut. The first game in the three-match series was drawn.

Watch the farcical South Africa A run out below:

Run out as Pieter Malan sets off for a single after he thought he struck it passed the bowler. Unfortunately the ball struck non-striker Raynard van Tonder and resulted in some confusion as to whether to run or not and ultimately Pieter Malan was caught out his crease.#SAAvINDA pic.twitter.com/iyd4tnOwnX

— ExcelBaby (@Shaun_Analytics) December 2, 2021