Watch: Harmanpreet Kaur‘s innings came to an end in bizarre fashion on day one of the one-off Test between India and England, when she was run out one run short of a half-century after her bat got stuck in the crease.
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Having slipped to 47-2 in the morning session, India had recovered well to 306-4 at tea, thanks largely to half centuries from debutants Satheesh Shubha and Jemimah Rodrigues. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur came to the crease after Shubha was dismissed by Sophie Ecclestone, and continued to calmly repress the England bowlers.
One run short of her half-century and facing up to Charlie Dean, Kaur attempted to push a full ball into the off side. She quickly set off for a single, only for Yatika Bhatia to turn her back from the other end. As Kaur hadn’t got too far down the pitch before turning around, she should have been able to make her ground again easily before the throw came in from Danni Wyatt.
However, as she tried to slide her bat into the crease, the toe end of the blade got stuck in the ground as the ball clipped the stumps from Wyatt’s throw. It wasn’t immediately clear that Kaur had failed to make her ground, and she took advantage of the ball’s ricochet to run through for the single and seemingly make her half-century.
Even as the graphic was displayed on the TV coverage for what would have been her first 50 in Test cricket, the umpires checked whether Kaur had got her bat back in before taking the run. The replays showed that her bat was still stuck in front of the crease when the ball hit the stumps, meaning she was actually out before reaching her half-century.
The dismissal had shades of India’s 2023 T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia, where Kaur was once again run out when her bat was stuck in the pitch. On that occasion, however, she had reached her half-century before the incident occurred.
