Why was Ravi Bishnoi not out on Harshal Patel's direct hit despite being out of crease during RCB's chaotic finish

The decision raised eyebrows and many were left wondering as to why the run out did not count. Here's why.

Chaos ensued in the final moments of yesterday's IPL 2023 contest where Lucknow Super Giants held their nerves to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in one of the craziest finishes of all time. Requiring to defend 5 off the last over, Harshal Patel almost pulled it through before a collective fumble from him and Dinesh Karthik allowed RCB to escape through. The final over had all the drama in the world – two wickets, two run-out missed. By the time the final ball was bowled, the scale had tipped in favour of LSG to RCB to again Lucknow, with Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi scampering through for the single that won them the match.

Harshal Patel's appeal was turned out immediately. (IPL)

While Karthik's failure to grab the ball off the last delivery became the talking point, Harshal Patel's attempt to run out Ravi Bishnoi off the final ball grabbed a lot of eyeballs. Harshal ran in and on realising that Bishnoi was backing too far at the non-striker end, the RCB pacer stopped in his tracks but failed to dislodge the bails. Harshal tried to make up for his error by throwing the ball back at the stumps and connected with his throw. However, despite Bishnoi clearly stranded out of his crease, the dismissal did not count. Even Bishnoi wasn't pleased with what had transpired and shook his head in disbelief.

The decision raised eyebrows and many were left wondering as to why the run out did not count. The on-field umpire did not even go upstairs and straightaway turned down the appeal. Here's why: As per the law 38.3.1.2 of MCC, 'Even if the non-striker had left his/her ground before the instant at which the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, once the bowler has reached that point it is no longer possible for the bowler to run out the non-striker under this Law.'

In this case, Harshal, the bowler had completed his action so whatever he did at that point onward, would not have counted. In order for Harshal to have affected a dismissal, he needed to have whipped the bails in the first attempt itself. However, as things turned out, it was an opportunity that went begging. Harshal had one more shot at giving RCB a win, and he almost did, but DK juggled and failed to collect the ball, and by the time he threw it, the single was easily completed with Bishnoi putting in a 22-yard sprint.

Credit also goes to Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran, both of whom blasted quickfire half-centuries and set the platform for a successful chase of 213 despite LSG losing their first four wickets for 99 runs, and young Ayush Badoni taking the game deep. Pooran was severe in particular, smoking the fastest fifty of this IPL season.

"Unbelievable. This is the Chinnaswamy, only venue where so many last-ball finishes are possible. From the position we were in, to end up winning it, is superb," LSG captain KL Rahul said after the win. "Batting 5 ,6, 7 is the toughest positions to play and that's where games are won and lost. We know about the power in Marcus and Nicky, and Ayush has come along as well. He's played 2-3 knocks last year, and he's continued to perform well for us."