Najmul Hossain Shanto took a simple catch to dismiss David Warner in Bangladesh’s final game of the 2023 World Cup against Australia today (November 11). Despite quickly releasing the ball when he attempted to throw it up in the air in celebration, the catch was still deemed lawful. Here is why.
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Warner had just reached his half-century in what is set to be his final innings in World Cup cricket in Pune. On 53 off 60 balls, Warner attempted to tuck the ball off his pads into the leg side, but got a leading edge and chipped the ball straight to Shanto at mid-on.
Shanto took the catch easily with both hands at stomach height, grasping the ball safely while stepping backwards. He then immediately went to throw the ball up in the air to celebrate the wicket. However, instead of flying aerial as Shanto intended, he lost grasp of the ball and it trickled along the ground in front of him. Nevertheless, the catch was still deemed lawful and Warner didn’t hesitate in walking off the field.
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Law 33.3 of Cricket states: “The act of making a catch shall start from the time when the ball first comes into contact with a fielder’s person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement.”
As Shanto took the catch in both hands and briefly paused before intentionally transferring the ball into only his right hand to throw up in celebration, it was correctly deemed that he had “obtained complete control over the ball”.
Shanto had also stopped stepping backwards and started to intentionally jump up in the air in celebration as he threw the ball up. In this respect, he was also correctly deemed to have “obtained complete control over his movement”.
Therefore, the catch had been completed before Shanto threw the ball in the aire and was correctly deemed legal.
A similar incident took place during the 2023 men’s Ashes series in the final Test at the Kia Oval. On the final day, when England were searching for Australian wickets to win the match, Steve Smith gloved a delivery from Moeen Ali towards Ben Stokes at short leg.
Stokes jumped in the air with his right hand up to take the catch. He managed to catch the ball, with his fingers around it in his right hand, while he was still coming down from his jump. However, the ball trickled along the ground after it was dislodged from Stokes’ hand as it hit his thigh as he landed.
A huge missed opportunity for England and Ben Stokes 😬 #Ashes2023pic.twitter.com/rHpN6tC9rL
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 31, 2023
Given that Stokes was still on one leg at the time and moving backwards, it was correctly deemed he did not have “complete control over his movement” by the time the ball was knocked out of his hands. Thus, Smith was given not out.
Therefore, in both incidents – that of today and at the Kia Oval – the correct decisions were reached according to the laws.
