Pakistan have complained to match referee Neeyamur Rashid over the on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena‘s decision to allow Bangladesh to take an lbw review off the penultimate ball of the third ODI in Mirpur. ESPNcricinfo has learnt the Pakistan management registered their complaint on the grounds that they believe Bangladesh took the review after a replay of the delivery flashed up on the big screen.
The decision to take the review, and its ultimate consequences helped Bangladesh assume an unassailable position in the game. Before that delivery, Pakistan needed 12 to win off two balls. Rishad Hossain flighted one up onto leg stump that spun down the leg side, away from Shaheen Afridi. The umpire called it a wide as it went down leg. After brief discussions, Bangladesh decided to take a review for lbw, even though, to the naked eye, the ball was nowhere near Afridi’s legs or any part of his body.
Normal protocols mandate that a decision about a review be made before any replays are visible to players to prevent them influencing the decision to review. However, with the assumption there was no case for a review as the said delivery was initially given a wide, Pakistan have argued those normal protocols were not followed, with the big screen at the stadium showing the ball passing the bat, and potentially giving Bangladesh enough information to suggest it may have made contact. Pakistan are also understood to be aggrieved at the possibility Bangladesh were allowed to review outside the maximum 15 seconds within which such a decision must be made. No timer appeared on the broadcast, so whether Bangladesh reviewed in time could not be independently confirmed.
However, the reason for Afridi’s visible frustration became clear as soon as the DRS went to Hawk-Eye, with a spike at the moment the ball passed the bottom of his bat, suggesting it had kissed the toe end and could not, therefore, be a wide. Bangladesh lost the review, but the wide decision was reversed and the equation became 12 in one ball. Afridi was stumped off the final delivery and swung his bat over the stumps in frustration. It secured victory for Bangladesh by 11 runs, and a 2-1 series win.
It is not yet clear yet what action the PCB wants from the match referee, though it is believed they expect at minimum a public acknowledgment that an error was made.
The decision is the second in as many games Pakistan have felt they may have come out the wrong side of. Salman Agha was run-out after being caught outside his crease trying to hand the ball to Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the second ODI. Agha’s frustration spilled over and he had heated words before throwing his bat and gloves down, earning him a demerit point and a 50% match fee fine. Mehidy was fined 20% of his match fee for that incident.
