Karunaratne fell well short of the non-striker’s end after getting involved in a mix-up, with Blair Tickner breaking the stumps before his bat could cross the crease, only for a zing bail to malfunction and save the batter.
There have been a number of bizarre incidents occurring on the cricket field over the years, including play getting stopped due to ball getting too hot after landing on a frying pan. There are also some instances where batters survive getting dismissed when the bails refuse to budge, or in rare case, get fused to the wickets due to heat.
The first ODI between New Zealand and Sri Lanka witnessed Chamika Karunaratne survive a run-out in a rather unique manner — due to the zing bails refusing to light up due to a dead battery.
The incident occurred during the 18th over of Sri Lanka’s chase of the 275-run target, with Karunaratne guiding the ball towards mid on off Blair Tickner. The bowling all-rounder got involved in a mix-up while attempting a second run, and had to dive at the non-striker’s end after aborting the run, falling well short by the time Tickner broke the stumps.
Karunaratne was preparing to head back to the dressing room when he was told by the umpires to stay back with the TV umpire, much to everyone’s surprise and New Zealand’s dismay, ruled it in favour of the batting side because one of the bails did not light up due to battery trouble.
The decision must’ve been all the more perplexing for everyone involved as well as for netizens since zing bails are a relatively recent addition to the sport and that cricket had functioned without such technology for over a century.
Karunaratne, though, would get dismissed for 11 by Henry Shipley the very next over, with the right-arm seamer completing his maiden international five-for in the process. Kumara then would get dismissed the next over as Sri Lanka were shot out for 76, their lowest ODI total against New Zealand, resulting in a humiliating 198-run defeat at Eden Park.
This wasn’t the only anomaly in the game though; earlier during the New Zealand innings, the bails refused to get dislodged after Kasun Rajitha beat Finn Allen’s outside edge and hit the off stump, resulting in the latter surviving on 9.
Allen would go on to bring up his fifth ODI half-century, with the Black Caps posting a competitive 274 on the board after being invited to bat by the Lankans.
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