A very marginal ‘one short’ decision right at the end of Kings XI Punjab’s chase in their IPL 2020 opener proved vital in the final analysis, with the game going to a super over and Delhi Capitals securing a come-from-behind victory.
The incident occurred on the third ball of the penultimate over of the pursuit. Mayank Agarwal squeezed a yorker out to long-on and called Chris Jordan back for a second, but the umpires ruled Jordan hadn’t grounded his bat in the crease at the striker’s end and knocked one run off the Kings XI total.
However, replays shown at the end of the over called into question the legitimacy of the decision, with on-air commentators Sunil Gavaskar and Simon Doull wondering why the call wasn’t reviewed by the third umpire.
This was called ‘one short’. Thoughts? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/EOtoZWAD1W
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) September 20, 2020
“Even now it can be corrected,” said Gavaskar. “This is such a touch and go thing.”
“We go upstairs for everything else,” agreed Doull. “We can look, we can check for everything.”
Fans on social media also pointed out the position of the square leg umpire, who wasn’t in line with the crease when he made the call.
It proved a pivotal moment. Kings XI Punjab should have won the game regardless, reducing the equation to one run needed off three balls, but Marcus Stoinis held his nerve, taking two wickets and conceding no runs from the last half of the 20th over to tie the game and take it to a super over.
Another two wickets in two balls, this time bowled by Kagiso Rabada, left Delhi Capitals needing three runs to win, and the runs were duly knocked off.