Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup campaign suffered a controversial blow in their narrow four-run defeat to South Africa at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Monday. A contentious umpiring decision and a Decision Review System (DRS) loophole have left Bangladesh and its supporters dismayed, with many calling the incident “daylight robbery.”
The match was balanced on a knife’s edge with Bangladesh needing 27 runs from 24 balls and six wickets in hand. Set batters Mahmudullah and Towhid Hridoy were guiding the chase when Ottneil Baartman bowled the 17th over. On the second delivery, Mahmudullah missed a flick shot, and the ball deflected off his pads to the boundary.
Umpire Sam Nogajski declared Mahmudullah out leg-before-wicket (LBW). Mahmudullah immediately reviewed the decision. The DRS ball-tracking technology revealed that the ball would have missed the leg stump, resulting in the on-field decision being overturned.
However, due to the current cricket rules, the leg-bye boundary was not added to Bangladesh’s total. The rule stipulates that once the umpire signals an out, the ball is considered dead, nullifying any runs scored, even if the decision is later overturned. This cost Bangladesh the four leg-byes, a crucial margin given the narrow defeat.
Former cricketers and fans took to social media to express their outrage over the incident. Wasim Jaffer, a former India batter, voiced his frustration on Twitter: “Mahmudullah was wrongly given out LBW, the ball went for four leg-byes. The decision was reversed on DRS. Bangladesh didn’t get the 4 runs as ball is dead once batter given out, even if wrongly. And SA ended up winning the game by 4 runs. Feel for Bangladesh fans.”
Source: ZEE
Actor Saiyami Kher also criticized the rule, tweeting: “I know life is not black and white but sport has no place for grey areas. This dead ball rule really has to be looked into. Bangladesh have lost today because they didn’t get those 4 runs. Definitely not fair.”
Source:- BBC news
The low-scoring thriller saw South Africa defending a modest target of 114 runs. Keshav Maharaj’s effective bowling in the final over, where he defended 11 runs, sealed South Africa’s victory. Bangladesh finished their innings at 109/7, narrowly missing the target amid the controversial umpiring and DRS loophole.
This incident has reignited debates about the fairness of cricket’s rules and the impact of umpiring decisions on tightly contested matches. As the T20 World Cup progresses, calls for a review of such regulations are likely to intensify, ensuring that no team feels shortchanged by the laws of the game.
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