One of cricket’s weirder quirks was exposed in New Zealand’s demolition derby of Sri Lanka when a seemingly clear-cut run-out was not given.
Up against the wall at 8-57 chasing a 275-run target, Chamika Karunaratne was sent back by Lahiru Kumara after looking to steal a second run.
The middle-order batter was saved when a flat battery in one of the light-up bails went flat.
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Even though it appeared Karunaratne was out of his ground and one bail had been dislodged from the stump, the third umpire Chirs Brown gave it not out.
Only when the second bail was dislodged did it and the stumps light up, at which point Karunaratne was inside the crease.
Commentators were left perplexed by the incident.
“Where’s the bail? It hasn’t lit up,” former Blackcaps batter Craig McMillan can be heard saying in the background on commentary.
“Look, there’s separation there, the battery’s gone. The power’s gone. He has to be out, there’s separation.”
He added, “It’s amazing what a flat battery will cost you. There was separation between bail and stump there. He was walking off, Chamika, he knew he was out.”
McMillan wasn’t the only one left confused by the call with several bewildered Blackcaps players approaching umpire Chris Gaffaney to inquire about the decision.
Bowler Blair Tickner could only offer a wry smile.
“I don’t understand that decision and that’s why the New Zealanders are inquiring about that,” McMillan continued.
“That is out, any which way you look at it. Lights on, light off – that is out. That is the wrong decision.
“I’m just hearing from the fourth umpire that the decision is made on the lights, that’s when you have to make the decision.
“But surely you can use your eyes and you can see that the bails have come up and away from the stump and that’s separation.
“Forget about the lights, if the battery is not working the lights are irrelevant.”
The decision was merely a blip on the radar for New Zealand who shortly thereafter sealed a dominant 198-run win.
Finn Allen top-scored for the Blackcaps with 51 while Daryl Mitchell (49), debutant Rachin Ravindra (49), and Will Young (47) all got starts on the team’s way to 247, all out.
In reply, Sri Lanka could only must 76 runs in less than 20 overs as Henry Shipley tore apart the visitors.
He took figures of 5-31 while Darryl Mitchell and Blair Tickner each took two wickets.
“It was pretty cool, not what I was expecting to do when I came to the ground,” said Shipley after his first one-day international on home soil.
“The batters said there was enough there and the score we had on the board was going to be tricky so that gave us confidence to go out there and do that.”
Sri Lanka came into the three-match series needing to win every contest to improve their chances of automatic qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup later this year.
Sri Lanka currently lies 10th in the standings. The top eight teams in the ICC Super League table will earn automatic qualification.
The second one-day international between New Zealand and Sri Lanka takes palace on Tuesday at Hagley Oval in Christchurch before the finale at Hamilton’s Seddon Park on Friday.
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