The last delivery of the Royal Challengers Bangalore-Lucknow Super Giants clash, bowled by Harshal Patel, could have had – on top of everything – a back-foot no ball.

There have been entire cricket matches that have been played out fully without being as eventful as the last ball of the Bangalore-Lucknow clash. With the scores level, Lucknow were nine wickets down – but a dot ball or a wicket would have taken the match to the Super Over.

Non-striker Ravi Bishnoi then left the crease early. Harshal Patel tried to run him out, missed the stumps, threw the ball to find Bishnoi short of the crease – but the umpire ruled dead ball.

When Harshal eventually bowled – ignoring, for some reason, that Bishnoi had left the crease again – Avesh Khan missed the ball. But so did wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, whose throw never came remotely close to running out Avesh.

To complete the spectacle, Avesh tossed his helmet on the ground to celebrate (and found some bounce). All this over the space of one ball.

Amidst all this, what went unnoticed was Harshal’s back foot, which came perilously close to the return crease (the lines perpendicular to the bowling and popping creases) when he was about to release the ball. As replays revealed, his back (right) heel was across the crease – but in air.

According to Law 21.5 (Fair delivery – the feet): “For a delivery to be fair in respect of the feet, in the delivery stride … the bowler’s back foot must land within and not touching the return crease appertaining to his/her stated mode of delivery.”

While Harshal’s back heel was indeed across the return crease, it was not touching it. Unlike some sports (football, for example), cricket defines crossing or touching lines based on the impact on ground, not the position in air. Where the foot lands after the bowler releases the ball is irrelevant.