Bizarre wicketkeeper brain-fade leads to five penalty in Bangladesh A vs New Zealand A match
A strange positioning choice by Bangladesh A wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan led to him unable to react to a ball that went on to strike his helmet, costing 5 runs.
While many cricket fans might be aware of the rule regarding five penalty runs if the ball strikes the fielding team’s gear behind the wicketkeeper, it is rare to see that event take place in practice at the highest level. Nonetheless, cricket is a sport full of surprises, and that is exactly what happened during a one-day match between Bangladesh A and New Zealand A in Sylhet.
In a truly bizarre clip from the unofficial ODI match, Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurual Hasan can be seen setting up wide of off stump while receiving from bowler Ebadot Hossain, closer to first slip than to a standard wicketkeeper’s position. In a strange brain-fade of a moment, after batter Dale Phillips leave the ball outside his off-stump, Nurul didn’t react, with the ball passing to his left and going on to hit the helmet kept behind him.
As per rule 28.3.2 in the MCC’s cricket rulebook: “If the ball while in play strikes the protective helmet the ball shall immediately become dead and he umpire shall signal No ball or Wide to the scorers, if applicable or umpire shall award 5 Penalty runs to the batting side.”
The umpire was keenly aware of the situation, indicating with an open-handed tap of his shoulder that the visiting Kiwis would receive five penalty runs.
New Zealand A win game following penalty
It was a strange scene to watch unfold given the international experience possessed by Nurul, who was also acting as skipper for the Bangladesh A team in this series. Although he was potentially setting up for any edges, it was an atypical starting position, and strangely one he didn’t react from once Phillips had shouldered arms and let the ball pass through.
The five penalty runs played a bigger role than they otherwise might have, with Bangladesh looking to defend a total of 227 in the 50 overs. It took until the penultimate over of the chase for the Kiwis to overhaul the target, with a seventh-wicket partnership between Zakary Foulkes and Dean Foxcroft taking them home, the five bonus runs no doubt a nice bonus.
Nonetheless, the tie was a dead rubber thanks to Bangladesh A having already sealed a 2-0 lead in the series, thanks to Nurul’s century in the second ODI. All’s well that ends well for the Bangladesh keeper.
