Ties are quite rare these days, and when it happens, the first thing that comes to mind is the Super over, where the teams show how good they have been in six balls with both bat and ball. However, this wasn’t the case during the first One-day international game of the 2024 series between India and Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
On winning the toss, the Charith Asalanka-led side decided to bat first on a slow and low track, which was expected to be a nightmare for the batters in the second half of the innings. Opening Pathum Nissanka batted pretty well for his 56 runs, but the middle order of the home side couldn’t turn up with any impressive performances against India’s bowling.
They were under pressure at 178/7 when young all-rounder Dunith Wellalage showed his skills with the bat in hand, smashing 67 unbeaten runs in 65 balls, decorated with the help of seven boundaries and a couple of sixes, at a strike rate of 103.07, which at the end helped them to reach 230/8 in allotted 50 overs.
No super over in India’s third tied ODI game against Sri Lanka
India, thanks to the crazy 58-run knock in 47 balls from captain Rohit Sharma with the help of seven boundaries and three sixes, makes a splendid start with the opening partnership of 75 runs in 12.4 overs. But once he was dismissed, the rest of the batting fell like a pack of cards.
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From a comfortable position of 80/1, they lost the rest of the nine wickets for only 150 runs. The middle order of the Blue Brigade hardly had any answer to the spin bowling of the home side. Virat Kohli, after being set on 24, failed to grab the momentum, as was the case with KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, and Shreyas Iyer, all of whom got more than 20 runs respectively.
However, despite the game ending in a tie, the match officials made the mistake of not arranging a super over as per the playing conditions of the International Cricket Council (ICC). ESPNcricinfo has reported that the on-field umpires Joel Wilson and Raveendra Wimalasiri, along with the match referee Ranjan Madugalle, the third umpire Paul Reiffel, and the fourth umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge, all have acknowledged the error in the playing conditions.
It was also a case study to erase the confusion on whether the understanding between the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has allowed a super over for the trip, given it has been clear that all the tied ODIs will have to feature a super over, with the time and conditions permitting.
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“If the teams’ scores are equal after both innings have been completed, then a Super Over shall be played. If the Super Over is a tie, then unless exceptional circumstances arise subsequent Super Overs shall be played until there is a winner.” The latest edition of the rules, released by the ICC in December 2023, expresses. “Should it not be possible to play or to complete the Super Overs needed to determine a winner, the match shall be tied.”
However, the umpires were quick enough to take the bails off to indicate the end of the game, as the player shook hands in the absence of the six-ball contest. The official decided to activate the rule if the same thing happened for the following two games, which the home side went on to win to register the first ODI series win over India in 27 years.
