Shanaka run out in Super Over gets all the highlights as he was not given out despite being well short of his ground.
In Friday’s Asia Cup match against India, Dasun Shanaka of Sri Lanka was run out by Sanju Samson off the fourth ball of the Super Over, but why was he still declared not out?
Samson threw the ball at the stumps to find the batsman short, Shanaka left his crease after missing a yorker from Arshdeep Singh, who went up in an appeal for a caught behind, creating chaos for a time.
After some consideration, however, the umpire had declared Shanaka out caught behind. Shanaka then took the decision upstairs to Masudur Rahman, the third umpire. Shanaka was declared not out for both the run out and the caught behind when replays showed that no bat was used. The misunderstanding was caused by the umpire’s original signal out for the caught behind, which was given after Samson’s direct hit.
The MCC’s regulation stipulates that “the ball will be deemed to be dead from the instant of the incident causing the dismissal” . The caught-behind argument in this instance meant that when Samson attempted to run Shanaka out, the ball had already been dead. Even though India captain Suryakumar Yadav appeared to ask the umpires about the judgement, Shanaka was instantly declared not out when replays showed he didn’t snag the ball.
“According to the rules, if you appeal for the catch, then Dasun could go up to the third umpire,” coach Sanath Jayasuriya said of what he made of the appeal. “It was the first decision that counts always, not the second. So he went for the referral, and it was not out. That’s what happened. But overall, I think there are a few grey areas [in terms of the rules at large] that they [officials] have to finetune a bit.”
Five balls into the Super Over, Sri Lanka lost both of their wickets, leaving India with just three runs to go into the final undefeated. Shanaka, however, was out the following ball as he cut one to deep third. Then, to ensure India’s triumph, Suryakumar hammered Wanindu Hasaranga’s opening ball through the covers.