The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is witnessing last over finishes almost every day. The latest game between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) also went down the wire with the four-time champions keeping their nerves to clinch the thriller by 8 runs. RCB would've chased down 227 runs stunningly if not for their lower-middle batters getting out in a haste in the last few overs. In such close matches, a wrong decision can turn the game on its head and it seems the third umpire missed out on a huge no-ball call during the match.
While the front-foot no-balls are being called by the TV umpires nowadays. this time around MS Dhoni was involved in the incident. In the 15th over of the innings, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja spun one past Dinesh Karthik sharply and the CSK skipper was quick to whip off the bails rapidly. The stumping appeal was taken upstairs only to realise that Karthik had his foot grounded and the third umpire Michael Gough adjudged the batter not out.
But it seems that he missed out on the collection of the ball from MS Dhoni. The replays suggested that the CSK skipper collected the ball just before the stump line. According to the rules, the ball should be collected only after it goes past the stumps. If this happens, the ball is deemed no-ball. However, that didn't happen and the play resumed soon. Not that the no-ball would've made a huge difference to the game but the pressure would've increased on the bowlers with an extra ball to deliver.
Nevertheless, CSK kept their cool to seal the game by just 8 runs and jumped to the second place in the points table. Meanwhile, Twitter was quick to point out the error from the third umpire and claimed that it was a clear no ball.
Here's how Twitter reacted:
