Harmanpreet Kaur-led Team India didn't have the best of start to the Women's T20 World Cup as they went down by 58 runs in their opening clash against New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday. India were outplayed by their opponent in both department and terrible fielding only compounded India's miseries in the encounter, which was also hit by a dead ball controversy.
The incident took place in the 14th over of the New Zealand innings, as skipper Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr were batting in the middle. In the final ball of the over, the pair completed a single but with the ball still being far from the stumps, Devine tried to steal another. However, Kerr was caught surprised with her skipper's call but obliged to it. In the process, Kerr was also run-out and she didn't even wait for the umpire's decision before taking the walk back to the pavilion.
However, Kerr was stopped near the boundary ropes by the fourth official, while the on-field umpires called India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur for a chat, explaining the ball was already dead. Kaur was livid with the umpire's decision as coach Amol Mazumdar was also seen chatting with the official from the sidelines.
The moment did escalate a bit of a tension as Harmanpreet was then seen engaged in a chat with the official near the boundary rope, this time she was joined by her deputy Smriti Mandhana. The umpires eventually stuck to their dead ball decision as Harmanpreet was asked to carry on with the proceedings.
The decision, however, didn't hurt India much as Kerr was dismissed in the next over by Renuka Singh Thakur. She fell for 13(22).
Jemimah Rodrigues, team's middle-order batter, was asked about the same in the post-match press conference to which she replied that the team has moved on. However, she did mention that the team felt a bit hard done at that time.
“I was not there when the umpire gave the cap to Deepti. New Zealand were pretty sure that it was a double run and Amelia Kerr went out which showed that the over was not called out yet. We all thought that we got that run out. What if that run out wouldn't happen? Would they give us a two for that? At the end, we respect the decision of the umpire and we were okay with that. But yeah, it's a bit harsh when Amelia Kerr herself walked out, because she knew she was out,” she explained.
However, Rodrigues was pleased with how the situation was handled by the team. “We know how important Amelia Kerr’s wicket is and at that moment it felt a little, you know, why didn't it go in our favour? But I think we did what we can. We spoke to the umpire, and then we had to accept the decision and move on. So, I think that's what we did really well, and I think we got her out pretty soon, so that worked for us,” she said.
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