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On Thursday, an unprecedented event occurred during the match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Bangladesh allrounder Mehidy Hussain was involved in a muddle with Najmul Hossain Shanto. As a result, both batters reached the single crease due to confusion, but after a thorough check, Mehidy Hussain was declared out by the umpires.
Here’s what happened:
The incident occurred on the third ball of the 37th over, which Sri Lankan pacer Kasun Rajitha was bowling. Mehidy Hasan placed the ball towards square leg, and the non-striker Shanto ran for a run. On the contrary, fielder Dhananjaya de Silva threw the ball towards the non-strikers’ end, and the bowler dismantled the bails while both batters were standing at the strikers’ end. If one sees this incident as it was, Najmul Shanto should be declared out as he was the one who left his crease and bumped into the striker’s end, but here the twist came in the incident.
According to Law 30.2.1, which talks about ‘which is batter’s ground’, if only one batter is within a ground, it is their ground and will remain so even if they are later joined there by the other batter.
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By this law, Najmul Shanto was first to cross the batter’s end before Mehidy Hasan, which ultimately became his ground first. So, despite Mehidy Hasan returning to his crease, the umpires ruled him out instead of Najmul Shanto.
Bangladesh put on a mere 164 runs on board, which was easily chased down by Sri Lanka by losing just five wickets.
No other batter than Najmul Hossain Shanto (89) failed to make any spark for Bangladesh. Sri Lankan spinner Matheesha Pathirana starred with the ball for the hosts. Bangladesh will face Afghanistan in their next game on Sunday at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
