The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) engaged in a nail-bitter in the promising Southern Derby at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. The former eventually emerged victorious in the high-scoring affair by upstaging MS Dhoni and Co. by two runs. However, a section of fans were left disgruntled over a major umpiring goof-up.
The moment took place during the intense 214-chase as CSK appeared to be in control, requiring 43 in the final four overs. But what followed next helped the momentum shift towards RCB up to a certain extent.
Lungi Ngidi, who dropped a sitter and gave Jadeja a lifeline in the previous over, was reintroduced in the attack to bowl the 17th over. He started with a single as Jadeja rotated the strike, following which the pacer, who came in as an injury replacement for Josh Hazlewood, gave RCB the much-needed breakthrough in the next ball. Ngidi broke the 114-run stand between Ayush Mhatre and Ravindra Jadeja by getting rid of the youngster for 94(48). Ngidi employed a slower delivery to inject the dismissal and forced CSK to hit the reset mode.
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Ngidi once again struck in the subsequent delivery and this time he trapped Dewald Brevis LBW for a golden duck off a low full-toss. While umpire Nitin Menon raised his finger, Brevis and Jadeja engrossed in the chase tried to steal a double possibly unaware of the official's decision. Soon after completing the two runs, the duo came together for a brief chat and Brevis went up for a review.
However, the DRS call by Brevis was not entertained as umpire informed they had exceeded the allotted time of 15 seconds, which was the case. The CSK pair, however, were dissatisfied over the call and Brevis even engaged in a chat with Menon before taking the dejected walk to the pavilion.
Brevis after reaching the dugout was seen having a chat with another official present at the spot and shortly after TV replays confirmed that the ball would have missed the leg-stump.
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CSK eventually lost the match by two runs and both experts and fans argued over the umpiring error, which could have resulted in a double - the exact margin between victory and defeat.
Irfan Pathan was quick to react to the howler and in a post shared on X, the ex-India all-rounder wrote: "Timer or no timer but that was a horrible decision against Dewald Brevis."
Timer or no timer but that was a horrible decision against Dewald Brevis.
Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 3, 2025
Time's upDropped catches, scintillating boundaries, back-to-back wickets & endless drama... #ViratKohli vs #MSDhoni - one last time? Is living up to the expectations! Who's winning it from here?Watch the LIVE action https://t.co/dl97nUfgCR #IPLonJioStar pic.twitter.com/0uSxPYEoWL Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 3, 2025
Fans too lashed out at the umpire, leading to many aggressive reactions online, with few even asking Menon to be removed from the IPL umpiring panel. Here are a few reactions...
We didn't lost to rcb today we lost to nitin menon pic.twitter.com/gQYcdYRWE2
` (@imviaan_) May 3, 2025
Nitin Menon is an absolute disgrace to umpiring. From day one, hes been ruining the spirit and beauty of the game with his horrendous decisions. And yet some fans call him Indias best umpire? What a joke. Hes not elite, hes just plain awful. #RCBvsCSK pic.twitter.com/wR76vH4GTl Sincere Dibya (@TheSincereDude) May 3, 2025
Umpiring standards the IPL deserves better. Even to the naked eye, it's clearly not out.And Nitin Menon, isa member of the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires as well, lol. pic.twitter.com/GA22PsROld
Ragav (@ragav_x) May 3, 2025
Umpire needs to be fired before the match is over. pic.twitter.com/DnauHLAQ2o Heisenberg (@internetumpire) May 3, 2025
Meanwhile, the victory took RCB to 16 points from 11 matches and they are now placed at the pole position on the points table. CSK, on the other hand, are already eliminated from the playoffs race.
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