Faf du Plessis ended up unbeaten in Chennai Super Kings’ chase against Punjab Kings, but he was very nearly given out in error, surviving two reviews, with the umpire decision changing twice before finally settling on ‘not out’.
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The strange incident occurred in the 14th over, bowled by Riley Meredith. Du Plessis played and missed at a short ball from the slingy Australian and after a lengthy appeal, the umpires chose to go upstairs.
The on-field officials, Anil Chaudary and Anil Dandekar, felt that du Plessis had edged the ball, and wanted to check the height of the delivery, with Meredith already having used his bouncers’ quota for the over.
Having been satisfied that the delivery was fair, TV umpire Virender Sharma instructed a decision of ‘out’ to be handed down, only for some miscommunication to see the umpires signal ‘not out’ at first, before raising the finger.
At this point, du Plessis himself intervened, reviewing the decision. UltraEdge showed he had not hit the ball, and he was reprieved, finally.
He went on to finish unbeaten on 36 as CSK recorded a six-wicket win.
