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Confusion over whether opening batter Muneeba Ali was actually deemed run-out caused a brief stoppage in the fourth over of Pakistan’s chase against India in their World Cup match in Colombo, with Pakistan querying the decision on the edge of the boundary while the dismissed batter Muneeba remained on the edge of the field of play.The sequence of events that led to the confusion was unusual. First, Muneeba had not been attempting a run – she had been batting out of her crease (presumably to counter swing) as India appealed for an lbw off the bowling of Kranti Goud. As that appeal went up, Muneeba had promptly grounded her bat behind the crease before the throw from Deepti Sharma came in from the slip cordon. However, she had very briefly raised her bat off the ground again without having grounded any other part of the body behind the line, and it was in the moments her bat was slightly raised that Deepti’s throw hit the stumps and dislodged the bails.ICC Playing Condition 30.1.2 does allow for a batter to lose contact with the ground beyond the crease and not be given out, but that exception is only granted to a batter who is “running or diving towards her ground”. Muneeba was merely stepping back into the crease, and there was no momentum that would have necessitated her bat leaving the crease.The playing condition states: “However, a batter shall not be considered to be out of her ground if, in running or diving towards her ground and beyond, and having grounded some part of her person or bat beyond the popping crease, there is subsequent loss of contact between the ground and any part of her person or bat, or between the bat and person.”Related

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The confusion was partially caused by conflicting third-umpire decisions being flashed on the big screen. Muneeba was initially given “not out” on the screen and even the India players had returned to their places. But that decision was soon changed to “out”, prompting celebrations from the India players and a puzzled expression from Muneeba, who animatedly sought clarification from the on-field umpires.It is possible third umpire Kerrin Klaaste had first given Muneeba not out before having seen the footage beyond Muneeba’s initial grounding of the bat. It is likely that after seeing the full set of replays – where Muneeba raised her bat again – Klaaste changed her decision.Once the on-field umpires confirmed she was out, Muneeba began to leave the field, but a flurry of activity near the Pakistan dugout gave her pause. She seemed to be getting instructions from her team-mates to remain on the field while they queried the decision again, this time from fourth-umpire Kim Cotton, who was at her station in between the two team dugouts. Muneeba was seen to be in further discussion with her team-mates – captain Fatima Sana in particular – as next batter Sidra Amin stood on the edge of the boundary without entering the playing area.Eventually, Sana appeared to signal to Muneeba that she may leave the field, likely having received further clarification surrounding the dismissal. Amin entered the field and went on to take strike. The incident caused a stoppage that went for several minutes longer than a regular run-out would take.Muneeba would also have been given out lbw off that delivery had India reviewed the on-field umpire’s not out decision. Her dismissal left Pakistan 6 for 1 in four overs in their chase of 248.

Saransh Jain bagged his second successive five-wicket haul, while Kumar Kartikeya finished with a four-for as the Central Zone spinners ran through South Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final.Under cloudy skies and on a surface with a greenish tinge, Jain picked 5 for 49 and Kartikeya returned 4 for 53 to bowl out South Zone for 149 in 63 overs at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. In reply, the Central Zone openers Danish Malewar and Akshay Wadkar were steady in their approach before bad light ended the first day early.At stumps, Central Zone were on 50 for 0, trailing South Zone by just 99 runs.South Zone’s new opening pair of Mohit Kale and Tanmay Agarwal weathered the new-ball storm, adding 24 runs in 15 overs. When spin was introduced in the 16th over, Kale’s went for a slog, only to be cleaned up by Kartikeya.Related

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Soon after, R Smaran swiped Kartikeya across the line, but could only manage a top-edge and was caught at square leg 1.There were immediate signs of extra zip and bounce for both Kartikeya and Jain, who operated in tandem. South Zone then lost Tanmay Agarwal through a run-out. Looking for a second run, Tanmay and Ricky Bhui collided in the middle and the former was found well short.Kartikeya struck for a third time when South Zone captain Mohammed Azharuddeen was squared up and bowled for 4 as South Zone went to lunch at 64 for 4. Jain joined in on the wicket-taking fun after lunch, trapping Bhui lbw.Salman Nizar took 13 balls to get off the mark by going on the assertive against Kartikeya, striking for a six and four. C Andre Siddarth also clipped Kartikeya through mid-on for four. But aggression got the better of Siddarth when he waltzed down to Jain, got beaten in the flight and was stumped as South Zone slipped to 97 for 6. That became 116 for 7 when Jain got a length ball to kick off the surface, rapping Nizar’s gloves, with Patidar taking a low catch at slip.Kartikeya then picked his fourth trapping Gurjapneet Singh lbw. Vasuki Koushik and Ankit Sharma tried to delay the end, but Jain picked his fifth wicket with a straight delivery that breached Ankit’s defences and trapped him in front.South Zone started with the spin of Ankit at one end and the left-arm pace of Gurjapneet at the other.Wadkar and Malewar hit Gurjapneet for three fours in an over to kickstart the charge as they reached the 50 mark in 17 overs. There was an appeal for lbw by Ankit against Wadkar but replays suggested that the ball would have clearly missed leg stump.Koushik got the ball to move around late in the day, but the two batters hung on.

Somerset 433 and 99 (Thomas 39, Porter 4-18) lead Essex 438 (Walter 158, Elgar 118, Overton 6-88) by 94 runsJamie Porter ripped through some fragile batting with four wickets to help skittle Somerset for 99 and put Essex on course for only their second home Rothesay County Championship victory of the season.Ably supported by debutant seamer Charlie Bennett, and latterly spinner Simon Harmer, Porter took his season’s tally to 49 wickets with figures of 4 for 18 from a dozen overs. It left Essex requiring 95 to win before bad light ended play on day three 17 overs early.At one stage, when Dean Elgar and Paul Walter were putting on 277 for the first wicket the day before, it had looked as if Essex would gain a sizeable first-innings advantage. In reality, that lead turned out to be just five runs as they lost all 10 wickets for an additional 161 runs inside 45 overs. But that was before Somerset went in for a second time.Much of the damage in Essex’s first-innings 438 was down to some naggingly accurate bowling from Craig Overton, who passed 500 first-class career wickets while posting figures of 6 for 88. What had been a docile, one-paced wicket suddenly turned into a seamer’s dream and Overton capitalised with his second six-wicket haul of the season.Essex’s seamers were also quickly among the wickets in Somerset’s second innings. Porter beat Archie Vaughan for pace and then Bennett had Tom Lammonby lbw to 1 that stayed low.James Rew appeared to be repairing the initial damage, harvesting four boundaries in his run-a-ball 19, until he skied a leading edge to midwicket off Bennett.Then in the next over, Tom Kohler-Cadmore may have lost the ball in the gathering gloom as Doug Bracewell bent back his off-stump. The floodlights came on soon after.Josh Thomas had been immune to the carnage around him, hitting seven fours in his 39 from 65 balls, but he became Porter’s 550th first-class wicket for Essex when one kept low and trapped him lbw. In the same over, Kasey Aldridge tickled one through to substitute wicketkeeper Simon Fernandes.With Somerset disappearing down a rabbit hole at 89 for 6, Essex announced free admission for all spectators on the final day. Overton then made a swift exit, playing all around one from Porter. And it became worse when Jack Leach set off for a run, pushing Porter into the covers, but could not recover his ground before Charlie Allison’s throw enabled Fernandes to whip off the bails.Lewis Goldsworthy dug in for 58 balls, but he was undone by a spectacular delivery from Harmer that pitched well outside off-stump and turned square to bowl him. And Jake Ball followed to one from the spinner that went straight on and disturbed his stumps, Somerset all out inside 34 overs.Under dirty grey clouds in the morning, things had looked brighter for Somerset when Overton claimed a second wicket in 10 balls, separated by overnight rest and recuperation. He dug in a short delivery and Tom Westley hooked obligingly to deep square leg.Elgar lasted just another half-an-hour. He added just seven runs to his day-two total before he was lbw for 118 playing all around the second ball of an Aldridge spell.Overton, returning for another spell with the second new-ball already four overs old, struck with his 13th delivery, slanting one in at pace and flattening Allison’s middle stump.Lewis Gregory had looked the most lively of the Somerset attack, beating the bat on a number of occasions, and finally received some reward, Matt Critchley lbw playing down the wrong line.On the stroke of lunch, Michael Pepper became Overton’s fifth victim when he was lbw trying to force the ball through midwicket.Gregory lasted eight deliveries in the afternoon session before pulling up injured and briefly leaving the pitch. He, therefore, missed Overton’s sixth wicket when Bracewell looked to swing lustily to leg but ended up dollying a catch to wide mid-off.Bennett produced some aggressive hitting with five fours in a 26-ball 22 before he gave a tame return catch to Leach. Porter smashed his first ball straight for six to take Essex into the lead but perished when he skied Leach into the covers.