VIDEO | Stump microphone cable denies India Meg Lanning’s wicket

02/12/2020

In the final of the T20I tri-series between India and Australia women, the Indian team was denied a run-out after the ball hit the stump microphone and deflected wide off the stumps with the fielder on target. To add insult, the ball ricocheted allowing Australia to run a second off the throw.

Australia were struggling to find momentum in the final of the tri-series against India, with the score reading 96/2 after the 14th over in the innings. Australia’s skipper Meg Lanning was batting alongside the in-form Beth Mooney. The duo had just stepped up the gas, and increased the run-rate with Arundhati Reddy bowling her third over of the innings. After a dot in the first delivery of the over, the game plan was set that Australia would try to score singles and doubles in the over. And, that was exactly what Lanning did in the very next delivery when she knocked the ball to extra-cover and took off for a sharp single. Everything looked right until then, despite Lanning struggling to make her way to the other end.

Shikha Pandey, who was fielding at short extra cover ran towards the ball and released a Virat Kohli-like throw to catch the batter short of the crease. However, there was the catch, the twist in the T20I encounter, thanks to technology. Pandey’s throw hit the stump microphone cable and deviated past the stumps when the throw looked dead-set to crash the stumps.

As a result, the ball went past the backup fielder running towards the deep, as Lanning and Mooney sneaked in for a second run when Lanning could have been dismissed in the same delivery. A cheeky run, an unfortunate set of events for the Indian team - all thanks to modern-day cricket. We have seen bails not getting dislodged from the groove, the ball flying off the stumps to the boundary rope and now, the ball ricocheting from the stump microphone cable. In the end, the Indian team were left disappointed with the missed chance as the play stopped to check on the condition of the cable.