Harmanpreet Kaur was involved in an animated conversation with the on-field umpires after India were denied the run out of Amelia Kerr, the ball deemed dead with the New Zealander out of her ground during the Women’s T20 World Cup clash.
India were ecstatic after they thought they had dismissed Kerr in the 14th over to bring themselves back into the game. The last ball of the over by Deepti Sharma was sent towards Kaur at long-off by Kerr, who completed one run. The batters, upon spotting Kaur with the ball in her hand, decided to take a second. Upon realising their intention, the India captain threw the ball to the wicketkeeper and Kerr was well short of the ground.
However, the umpires stopped Kerr from walking back, suggesting the ball had been deemed dead after the first run. Replays showed Deepti walking up to the umpire to collect her hat before the second run was taken.
“She was moving on [from the over],” is what the commentator narrated of the umpire while watching the replays.
The incident did not leave the Indian management pleased, with head coach Amol Muzumdar walking down from the dressing room to the boundary to chat with the umpires. Play was held up considerably as Kaur along with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana had a lengthy conversation with the officials, who were unrelenting of the decision.
What also made the incident bizarre was that Kerr, who had scored a single on the last ball of the over after the second was not counted, should have been on strike for the next over. Instead, Devine faced the first ball, who took a single. On the second ball of the over, Kerr was dismissed for 13.
What do the laws say?
The Laws of Cricket suggest that, while it's possible the umpires made an error in calling the ball dead, once they had done so, they made the right decision in not giving Kerr out. Law 20 deals with when a ball is dead, and clause 20.1 states: "The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play." Given New Zealand attempted a second run, and Kaur attempted a run out, it would seem that neither side had ceased to regard the ball as being in play.
Clause 20.6 states: "Once the ball is dead, no revoking of any decision can bring the ball back into play for that delivery." Given that, once the ball had been called dead, the umpires' hands were tied from that point onwards.
Watch the incident here:
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