![Melbourne Renegades vs Hobart Hurricanes WBBL drama [Source: WBBL/X.com]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1793800497825_MelbourneRenegadesHobartHurricanesWBBL.jpg?type=hq)
Melbourne Renegades vs Hobart Hurricanes WBBL drama [Source: WBBL/X.com]
A very rare kind of a drama unfolded in the Women's Big Bash League on Wednesday evening, as the Melbourne Renegades Women faced Hobart Hurricanes away from home. The game went until the final ball of the match, ending in a heartbreak for Hurricanes.
The clash at the Bellerive Oval presented an opportunity for both teams to open their account on the points table after losing their first two matches each. Just when everyone thought the match went into the Super Over, a very unusual twist took the game away from the hosts.
Watch- Lizelle Lee's blunder leads to bizarre turn of events in WBBL
Batting second on the night, Melbourne Renegades Women were asked to chase 155 runs in 20 overs. The Renegades were breezing towards the total, but Heather Graham and Nicola Carey combined for 5 wickets to pull the match back into their favour.
Renegades needed 7 from the final over, when Nicola Carey came back for her final over, with the dangerous Deandra Dottin and Nicole Faltum at the crease. The over went to the plan, as Carey only conceded 2 runs in 4 balls, before conceding a four on the fifth.
With one run required from the final ball, the medium-pacer bowled a delivery wide outside off to stay out of Dottin's reach and the Barbadian allrounder failed to get her bat to the ball.
Just when everyone thought the match was heading into the super over, the third umpire saw that wicketkeeper Lizelle Lee collected the ball in front of the stumps and it was deemed a no ball. With this, captain Carey's all-round effort of 62 off 43 and 2/30 (3.5) went in vain.
Watch the incident below-
Why was Nicola Carey's delivery adjudged no ball?
As it can be seen in the above video, Lizelle Lee's gloves while collecting the ball were slightly ahead of the line of stumps. While it was far away from the wickets and Dottin was inside the crease, a wicketkeeper is not allowed to get ahead of the line of stumps to grab the ball.
MCC's Law 27.3 clearly states the following in the rule books:
27.3.1- The wicket-keeper shall remain wholly behind the wicket at the striker’s end from the instant of the bowler’s delivery until a ball delivered by the bowler touches the bat or person of the striker or passes the wicket at the striker’s end or the striker attempts a run.
27.3.2- In the event of the wicket-keeper contravening this Law, the striker’s end umpire shall call and signal No ball as soon as applicable after the delivery of the ball.
With this, Hobart Hurricanes remain at the rock-bottom of the points table, and wait to get their first points on the table, while the Renegades are still in the bottom half of the table at number 6.
