Follow UsIt turned out to be a humdinger of a game between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) in the second match of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 in Vadodara. DC held their nerves and prevailed off the last delivery, but the match was not short of drama.
There were a few instances when MI were denied run-outs by the third umpire, Gayathri Venugopalan, which could have altered the result of the match. On three occasions, when a run-out was referred to her, she did not consider the moment the LED lights lit up as the point of the wickets being broken.
She, in fact, felt that the bails had to be completely dislodged from the wickets as the point to be considered for a run-out, which are not according to the playing conditions of the WPL.
Appendix D of the WPL 2025 playing conditions clearly states, "Where LED wickets are used, the moment at which the wicket has been put down shall be deemed to be the first frame in which the LED lights are illuminated and subsequent frames show the bail permanently removed from the top of the stumps."
The incidents involved Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav, whose desperate dives should have gone in vain as they were not inside the crease when the LED lights lit up. Pandey was given not out while the batter had the bat on the line," Raj said while speaking on JioHotstar after the match.
"When you dive and your bat first hits the ground [inside the crease] and then it [bounces up] because you have to dive full stretch, then it is not out. [But] with Radha Yadav, we can see the blade of the bat up. It is nowhere touching any part of the ground [inside] the crease [when the LED stumps light up]. That means she is out. The bat was never in the crease. That is pretty much out."
Even in the final ball of the match, with DC needing two to win, Arundhati Reddy chipped the ball over covers and scampered for two runs. However, Yastika Bhatia had dislodged the bails after a throw from Harmanpreet Kaur came in as Reddy was completing the second run.
However, when the LED lights came on, Reddy's bat was still on the line. The third umpire thought, "The batter has made her ground before the wicket is completely dislodged," and hence handed DC the win.
"Have misunderstood the rules? Were those 2 run outs…out?" former Australia all-rounder wrote on X.
All incidents took place in the last three overs when DC needed 30.
Cricket coach Mike Hesson too was not too pleased with the decisions. "Not sure why the umpire tonight has decided that the zinger bails are not applicable? Once bails lights up connection is lost therefore wicket is broken! That is in the playing conditions! Have seen more confusion in last 10 mins than ever before," he wrote on X.
With this win, DC got off the mark in WPL 2025 in their first game. They will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) next on February 17 (Monday) in Vadodara.
