The Women's T20 World Cup has started in the UAE. On the very first day, there was a big uproar in the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Actually, Sri Lankan batsman Nilakshi de Silva was first given out on the ball of Nashra Sandhu. Immediately after this, the umpires reversed the decision and declared it a dead ball. Because Nashra Sandhu's handkerchief fell while bowling. This saved Nilakshi from getting out. There was a lot of debate on this decision of the umpires. Do you know why the umpires took this decision?
Before knowing about the rules of handkerchiefs in cricket, it is important to know what happened in the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. Sri Lanka bowled brilliantly and restricted them to a score of just 116 runs. Chasing this, Sri Lanka scored 51 runs at the loss of 4 wickets in 12 overs. On the first ball of the 13th over, Nashra Sandhu came to bowl, while Nilakshi de Silva was present at the crease.
While Nashra was bowling, her handkerchief fell on the ground. Nilakshi tried to sweep this ball but she missed the ball and was out on LBW. Then she complained to the umpire about the handkerchief falling. After consulting the third umpire, this ball was declared a dead ball and she was saved from getting out. There was a lot of debate about this decision. Some fans say that the batsman played a shot so she should have been given out.
According to clause 20.4.2.6 of the MCC rules, if the batsman standing on strike is distracted by any sound or movement or any other reason before playing the ball, then it will be declared a dead ball. The same happened in the case of Nilakshi, the Pakistani bowler's handkerchief fell before she could play the shot. However, this did not cause much harm to Pakistan. The Pakistani team managed to win this match by 31 runs.
Recently, a similar incident was seen in the County Championship. In the match between Somerset and Hampshire, Shoaib Bashir was bowled by Kyle Abbott. But due to Abbott's handkerchief falling down, the ball was considered a dead ball and he was saved from being out.
