A high full-toss delivery by Isabelle Wong in the third ball of the second over saw Shafali Verma making room and slicing it in the air.
While the Delhi Capitals opener hoped that the ball would go far - after having cleared the first two deliveries for a six and a four. But it was caught comfortably by Amelie Kerr at backward point.
Shafali, however, nodded her head and rushed to Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning and immediately, they wanted a review to check whether it was a no-ball.
As the on-field umpire referred the decision upstairs, the Mumbai Indians players looked confident that they had claimed the big wicket of Shafali, that too, in the second over of the Women’s Premier League final!
Amid chants of ‘Mumbai, Mumbai’ in a packed Brabourne Stadium, the ball-tracking showed that it was on the waist and was dipping at the end.
It was certainly a touch and go and the third umpire gave the benefit of doubt to the bowler, much to the displeasure of Shafali and Lanning.
Shafali, who started off aggressively, however, was still not convinced with the decision and walked back to the dugout shaking her head in disappointment.
As the television cameras panned towards the Delhi Capitals dugout, the camp looked dejected with the decision, and adding to its woes, the side lost another wicket in Alex Capsey in a span of two deliveries.
Wong’s low full-toss delivery below the waist caught Capsey unawares as she lobbed it in front of cover and Amanjot Kaur dived forward to take a perfect catch. As the Mumbai Indians players celebrated the success, the Delhi camp took a review, but it too, did not go in its way.
Coming into the final after a hat-trick against UP Warriorz in the eliminator a couple of days ago, the young Wong continued with her magic as she banked on yet another full-toss delivery to claim the wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues - her third of the game.
After starting off with a couple of boundaries, Rodrigues opened the face of the bat looking to drive the full-toss delivery through the square, but ended up offering a catch to Hayley Matthews at point. Reeling at 34 for 3, Delhi Capitals camp looked jaded before captain Lanning and Marizanne Kapp rebuilt.
However, this was not the first time that the umpiring decisions came under the scanner in the WPL. In a group league match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore a couple of weeks ago, a short-ball by Nat Sciver-Brunt saw Richa Ghosh edging behind the stumps to Yastika Bhatia.
While replays showed a clear edge from Ghosh’s bat, it was not detected by the snickometer, leaving Mumbai Indians camp baffled.
