An umpiring blunder resulted in a five-ball over during today's Pakistan-Netherlands World Cup match in Hyderabad.
The Netherlands, making their first World Cup appearance since 2011, made an ideal start by winning the toss and choosing to bowl. They swiftly reduced Pakistan to 38-3 in the 10th over, dismissing the top three batters.
However, Pakistan mounted a comeback thanks to Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel. By the 28th over, Pakistan had reached 158-3, with both middle-order batters reaching their fifties quickly.
Nonetheless, Pakistan encountered two umpiring mistakes during their recovery. Firstly, in the 14th over, only five deliveries were bowled. The over was concluded after Shakeel hit the fifth delivery for four runs, with umpires Adrian Holdstock and Chris Brown believing that six balls had been bowled. Despite the fielders being ready for the 15th over, the TV umpire Rod Tucker did not intervene to notify the on-field officials of their error.
According to Law 17.5, “If the umpire miscounts the number of valid balls, the over as counted by the umpire shall stand."
A similar mistake occurred eight overs later when Shakeel struck a delivery from Roelof van der Merwe to the boundary. Shakeel and Rizwan promptly alerted the umpires that the Netherlands had one extra fielder outside the fielding circle. Fortunately, the umpires had enough time to correct their mistake, and no ball was declared. The subsequent free hit was hit for a six.
This incident is not the first time a counting error has occurred in a World Cup match this year. In February, during a Pakistan-India women's T20 World Cup match, India was granted a seven-ball over, with Jemimah Rodrigues hitting the extra delivery to the boundary.
