Miscommunication between umpires and scorers cost Hyderabad the game.

It was the fourth ball of the second over of Karnataka’s innings, when a shot hit by Karun Nair was saved by Mehdi Hasan on the deep mid wicket for two runs. The replays, however, suggested that Hasan was touching the rope while he had the ball in his contact, which the umpire had failed to notice. Hyderabad left the field in the knowledge that the target was 204 after Karnataka's innings.

However, ending their innings at 203 runs, Karnataka had informed the umpires of the boundary, which had not been awarded to them. The umpires, after consulting with the scorers, decided to eventually give them the runs which caused a delay of few minutes. When Hyderabad came on to bat next, they were befuddled by the changed figures on the scoreboard that showed 206.

"There was some confusion in the middle at the start of our innings. What I went and told the umpire was 'sir you cannot change the score, we are batting for 204 as our target'. That is exactly what I told him and he said 'we'll see it at the end, let the match start. The match was stopped for nine minutes, before the second innings. They had no business to stop the match once the target was declared. Then, what we said was we were playing for 204, and that was my exact words," a disappointed Rayudu said after the game.

Unfortunately, Hyderabad lost the game by two runs and the on-field officials’ inability to cope with the situation caused a huge controversy as Rayudu led his team to the middle arguing for a super over. The on-field drama after the game even led to a curtailed 13-over encounter between Andhra and Kerala, who were scheduled to play next at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.

“At the end, we went and asked to start the Super Over. That is exactly our point of contention. We never even thought of stopping the second match, that has got nothing to do with us. We were insisting that our match was not complete, we still have to play the Super Over. That is exactly why we went to the middle, we were actually going to warm up then,” said Rayudu justifying his action.

This is not the first time that a team has lost a match due to a change of opponent’s score. During the 1987 world cup Kapil Dev had accepted a change in Australia’s score as the umpire had mistakenly signalled four runs for a six struck by Dean Jones. The addition of the two runs resulted in India losing a match by one run.

"I'm sure of the rules. If he had changed immediately then it would have been perfect. Even if somebody gets out and you come inside and see that it's not out, you don't call the person back. Even in case of a no-ball not correctly called, you cannot call somebody back or add the scores. I don't know what has happened but we were playing for 204. That is exactly what I wanted to tell and we were waiting for the Super Over which never happened," he added.

However, the Laws of Cricket 2017 codes states something different. According to the Law 2.15 (Correctness of Score), “consultation between umpires and scorers on doubtful points is essential. The umpires shall, throughout the match, satisfy themselves as to the correctness of the number of runs scored, the wickets that have fallen and, where appropriate, the number of overs bowled. They shall agree these with the scorers at least at every interval, other than a drinks interval, and at the conclusion of the match. Which gives the umpires to change the score before the start of the second innings of the game.”