A third umpire call during the chase in the UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians Women’s Premier League fixture in Mumbai has stirred up quite the controversy.
Sophie Ecclestone’s yorker to Hayley Matthews in the fifth over first appeared to have caught the Mumbai opener plumb in front.
Ecclestone looked to her captain Alyssa Healy, who looked unsure as she said, “I don’t know,” referring to whether the ball got either toe or pad first to stand for an lbw appeal.
On field umpire Pashchim Pathak was not convinced with the appeals and denied UP the wicket. This prompted Healy to reluctantly review the call.
UP Warriorz’ Sophie Ecclestone and Alyssa Healy decided to review a yorker which they believed had Hayley Matthews caught lbw.
The third umpire’s replay appeared to show the ball deflecting off Matthews’ toe before hitting the bat and ball tracking showed the ball going straight into the middle stump.
This was the first angle made available to the third umpire which showed a spike when the ball went close to the Hayley Matthews’ left toe.
With ball tracking showing the ball going straight into the middle stump, it seemed to be a straightforward decision to declare Matthews out lbw.
Given the information from the third umpire, Pathak raised his finger leaving Matthews in disbelief.
The Mumbai opener stood her ground, discussing the development with Healy and Ecclestone. The umpires - Pathak and N. Janani meanwhile also seemed to still be discussing the dismissal, looking unconvinced.
The umpires were unconvinced with the decision to give Hayley Matthews out
Just when she started reluctantly trudging towards the pavilion, the umpires decided to take a second look at the delivery. This time, the third umpire looked at a longer shot of the ball which showed the ball coming to the toe off the bat first as opposed to going directly to the toe as was thought earlier.
Hayley Matthews was delighted to be vindicated after the decision to declare her out was rescinded. She lasted only for seven more balls after this delivery.
Pathak was then directed to stick to his original decision of not-out. Here’s how fans and pundits reacted to the bizarre turn of events.
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