ESPNcricinfo– In a controversial incident in the series-deciding ODI in Sylhet, West Indies captain Rovman Powell was out to what should have been called a no-ball due to an excessive number of Bangladesh fielders manning the leg-side field. Following the game, which Bangladesh won to seal the series, Powell expressed disappointment with the on-field umpires for not catching the breach till it was pointed out by Carlos Brathwaite, West Indies’ 12th man who came on to the field to bring it to the notice of umpires Masudur Rahman and Ruchira Palliyaguruge.
Brathwaite was seen having an animated discussion with the umpires just after Powell was given caught behind off Mehidy Hasan in the 26th over. He seemed to bring up the matter again, when he came onto the field with drinks a few overs later. Powell said that Brathwaite had come on to the field to bring the situation to the umpires’ notice.
Powell said the issue had persisted over several balls. “It was a situation where Bangladesh had six persons on the leg side, and generally six persons on the leg side is considered a no-ball. It is a bit disappointing to see about six or seven balls [were] bowled with six players on the leg side and the umpire didn’t pick that up. It is human mistake, so sometimes you have to just give and take.
“But you don’t want to lose a wicket in that fashion. Maybe that’s one of the major reasons why Carlos came on the field. To be honest, I didn’t spot it. None of us, me nor [the other batsman at the time] Shai Hope, spotted it. We were concentrating on rebuilding, getting a partnership going and that just happened.”
It is not clear why Brathwaite did not prevent Powell from leaving the field when they had, evidently correctly, spotted this umpiring error. When Powell was asked about the matter at the press conference, he didn’t seem to catch the question.
According to clause 28.4 of the ICC men’s playing conditions, “At the instant of delivery, there may not be more than 5 fielders on the leg side… In the event of infringement of this clause by any fielder, the striker’s end umpire shall call and signal no-ball.”
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said that they also did not spot the error. “We all know that a 6-3 field is a no-ball,” Mashrafe said. “But by being focused on getting them out we ended up having six fielders on the on-side, but since the umpire had made his call [on the Powell dismissal], he had to be given out.”
