Bangladesh lost to South Africa by just four runs in the low-scoring T20 World Cup 2024 encounter at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. While there were several crucial moments in the game, one of them became a major deciding factor. On the second ball of the 17th over, Mahmudullah was given out lbw by the umpire. Meanwhile the ball travelled to the boundary with no one near to stop it. Mahmudullah opted for DRS and the decision was reversed. However, no run was given.
The four runs were crucial, especially in a run chase of 114 where boundaries were hard to come by. Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer came in support of Bangladesh.
“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,” Jaffer wrote on his X account.
What the law says?
In the last four overs, Bangladesh needed 27 runs to win. Had the boundary been given via leg byes, Bangladesh would have needed 22 runs from as many balls. However, the ICC rule prevents a boundary to be signalled when a batter has been dismissed already.
As per 20.1.1.3, a batter is dismissed. The ball will be deemed to be dead from the instant of the incident causing the dismissal.
Mahmudullah fails to finish in style
South Africa pacers were relentless in the death overs. They left 11 runs to defend for the left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj in the final over. Mahmudullah got the golden chance to finish the run chase off the penultimate delivery as Maharaj bowled a full toss but Mahmudullah was caught inches inside the boundary by skipper Aiden Markram. He departed after scoring 20 runs from 27 deliveries. On the last ball, just a single was scored as Bangladesh posted 109/7 and lost the match by four runs.
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