Jasprit Bumrah no-ball. (Photo Source: Twitter)
In any cricketing format, bowling a no-ball is considered almost a crime. Things get worse for any team when it’s contesting against a quality side in an ICC knockout game and a batter from the opposition gets dismissed on an unfair delivery and survives due to the error.
Recently, in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final between Australia and India, Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur got reprieves in the first innings due to no-balls bowled by the Aussie skipper, Pat Cummins. However, the mistake from the Australia captain didn’t affect his team as Cummins and his men bagged the game comfortably in the end.
There have been several instances in the past when a few batters got lifelines in knockout games due to no-balls delivered by bowlers. Riding on the grave mistakes of the opposition, these batters changed the course of the game to help their teams emerge victorious in the knock-out contests.
Here are the three instances when batters got a lifeline due to no-balls bowled in ICC knockout matches:
3. Rohit Sharma- 2015 World Cup quarter-final
Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter)
In the second quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup, India and Bangladesh clashed with each other at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Winning the toss, India captain, MS Dhoni, elected to bat first.
India openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave a stable start to their team, but after 16 overs, the Bangladesh side made a comeback as Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Dhawan (30 runs off 50 deliveries) and Rubel Hossain picked up Virat Kohli (three runs off eight balls).
Later, Rahane also threw his wicket cheaply but Rohit was standing firm in the middle to take the team to a huge score. While batting on 90, Sharma got caught on Rubel Hossain’s delivery but the right-handed batter was signalled not out as the umpire declared the ball from Hossain a no-ball.
Getting another life, Sharma went on to conclude his innings on 137 off just 126. Riding on Rohit’s fabulous knock, the Men in Blue put up 302 runs on the board to register an enormous 109-run victory over the Bangla Tigers in the match. Rohit also got the Player of the Match award for his sensational innings.
2. Fakhar Zaman- 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final
Fakhar Zaman. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
India’s 2017 Champions Trophy final defeat at the hands of arch-rivals, Pakistan, was a tough pill to swallow for the Indian cricket team fans. In the high-voltage match at The Oval, India captain, Virat Kohli, won the toss and chose to field first. Coming out to bat, Pakistan openers Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali struggled to rack up runs in the initial overs.
Things could have gone worse for the Men in Green as Zaman had got caught by MS Dhoni on Jasprit Bumrah’s first delivery of the second over. However, luck favoured Pakistan as TV replays showed the India pacer overstepping the line. Taking advantage of the lifeline, the Pakistan left-handed batter came heavily on Indian bowlers and played a 114-run knock off 106 deliveries to help his team post 338-4 on the board.
Zaman’s superb innings filled Pakistan bowlers with confidence to outclass Indian batters and take the game home comfortably by 180 runs. Following Zaman’s match-winning innings, Pakistan supporters went crazy after him.
1. Lendl Simmons- ICC T20 World Cup 2016 semi-finals
Lendl Simmons of West Indies. (Photo by Jan Kruger-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)
On the evening of March 31, 2016, Indian cricket buffs were filled with ardour as India and West Indies were all set to take each other on in the second semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 at the Wankhede Stadium. At the crowd-packed stadium, Indian fans were great in numbers and they all were expecting the Men in Blue to win the game against the West Indies and reserve a spot in the final.
At the toss, the West Indies captain Daren Sammy called it correctly against his counterpart MS Dhoni and invited the hosts to bat first. In the crucial match, Virat Kohli produced an impactful knock of 89* off 47 to power India to accumulate 192 runs after the end of their 20 overs.
Chasing the big target, the West Indies lost their opener Chris Gayle and top-order batter Marlon Samuels early within the powerplay overs. The power-hitting from Johnson Charles and Lendl Simmons brought the Windies back into the game.
India got a couple of chances to make a comeback with Simmons getting caught twice on Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya’s deliveries, however, unfortunately, both balls were called unfair as both players had overstepped the line. Punishing India for their indisciplined bowling, Simmons played an unbeaten 82 to bag the match for the West Indies with seven wickets in hand.