The Indian Premier League (IPL) is well-known for its dramatic finishes and it was just the case as Sunrisers Hyderabad cinched a last-ball thriller against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Sunday. With 5 runs to win from the final delivery of the match, Abdul Samad miscued his shot off the bowling of Sandeep Sharma and it looked like RR have won the match.
However, the celebrations were cut short as the umpire signaled no-ball. Replays showed that Sandeep had overstepped and he had to bowl the final ball all over again. Samad was on strike once again and this time, he made no mistake as he slammed the ball directly over the bowler’s head for a six and SRH completed the highest chase at the venue.
Why was Abdul Samad back on strike for the last ball after being caught at long-off and both batsmen had crossed over on the no ball?
Sunrisers’s Hyderabad’s Abdul Samad, who has muffed up couple of chases in the tournament, holed out to long-off where Jos Buttler took the catch. The fielders and crowd were celebrating and Samad, who had crossed over the non-striker’s end, looked crestfallen when he saw the umpire raise his arm for a no-ball.
This is what he said at the post-match chat with the broadcaster: “We realised it was a no-ball after we had crossed so I asked Marco [Jansen] to come back.” A shot from a fan at the long-on shows them running back just before the umpire signals the free-hit.
But does that mean, had Samad not crossed back in time, he wouldn’t have been on strike for the final ball, that he walloped for a match-winning six?
No. He still would have been on strike.
Abhishek Sharma (55), Rahul Tripathi (47) kept them in the hunt before Yuzvendra Chahal (4/29) snapped four wickets to almost derail their chase.
A cameo from Glenn Phillips (25) reignited the chase as Abdul Samad’s (17 not out off 7 balls) knocked off the winning runs with a six in the last ball following a no-ball from Sandeep Sharma.
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