NEWS
Follow UsMadhya Pradesh are taking on Mumbai in the final of the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on December 15 (Sunday). After Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl, Mumbai found themselves on top through early wickets.
MP lost half their side by the 13th over and with Mumbai having their tails up, MP skipper Rajat Patidar was waging a lone battle with the bat in hand. There was a slightly debatable decision involving Venkatesh Iyer that went against MP (catch), but all hell broke loose across the last two overs of the first innings.
18.6 - Umpires reverse no-ball decision to leave Patidar fuming
The 19th over of the first innings was bowled by medium pacer Suryansh Shedge, and the fourth and fifth ball of the over was hit out of the ground by Patidar. Mind you, by this point, MP had already lost eight wickets, so Patidar was looking to take a single off the final ball to keep strike for the last over.
However, on the final ball, Shedge bowled a high full-toss that was signaled no-ball immediately by the square-leg umpire. So even though there was an opportunity for a single, Patidar denied it so that he could smoke one out of the park on the free hit.
Patidar denying the single had an implication, though, as the batter at the other end, Shivam Shukla, was struggling to make it back to the non-strikers’ end after being sent back. The stumps were broken and the on-field umpires went upstairs to refer the run-out.
Replays showed Shukla was run-out, but they also showed that the ball was not above Patidar’s waist. So the no-ball decision was reversed. This was a disaster for MP as it meant Patidar was not on strike for the final over.
The MP skipper was fuming as he felt cheated by the decision; the only reason he refused the single was because he went by the square-leg umpire’s initial decision to call the delivery a no-ball.
19.6 - Wide given, third umpire overrules it, third umpire re-reverses it and then apologises
More madness unfolded on the final ball of the innings. Shardul Thakur bowled one of the widest ‘wides’ of all time, which was rightly signaled a wide by the on-field umpire. But Mumbai reviewed it as they had DRS calls they could exhaust.
Replays showed that Patidar went chasing the ball, to the extent that he almost reached it. So seeing this, the third umpire asked the on-field umpire to reverse his call and signal it a fair ball.
But there was a twist: the ball pitched OUTSIDE the furthest wide (white) marker. When that happens, it does not matter where the batter stands; it’s always a wide.
This was pointed out by the batter Patidar, who informed the on-field umpires about the rule. The on-field umpires went upstairs once again and third umpire KN Anantha Padmanabhan reviewed his decision. He then spotted what Patidar pointed out and reversed his decision and asked the on-field umpire to stick with the original wide call.
After reversing his call, the third umpire offered an on-air public apology for incorrectly asking the on-field umpire to reverse the wide decision, overlooking where the ball pitched.
The extra ball proved valuable for MP as Patidar smoked it out of the ground to take the side to 174/8.
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