England won the match by four wickets.
We are just eight matches into the Women’s World Cup 2025, but it’s already filled with umpiring errors. In the recent fixture between Bangladesh and England, another umpiring error might have cost the Asians the game. The incident occurred in the 15th over, when England skipper Heather Knight hit a delivery to covers.
Fahima Khatun bowled a slower delivery, which was hit towards Shorna Akter at covers. Akter dived in front to take a stunning catch, and the Bangladesh players erupted in joy. To add to that, Knight also started walking back, as she thought that the catch had been taken cleanly. However, the TV umpire adjudged the decision as not out, raising quite a few eyebrows.
Unfortunately for Bangladesh, Akter, their spearhead, walked off the field with an injury in the 16th over and did not come back onto the field. Due to this, Bangladesh missed a good chance to claim the two points, registering their first loss of the campaign. England, on the other hand, have made it two in two.
“Can’t say I’ve been out three times and reprived in an innings. It is a new one for me. I thought it carried, I thought it was a fair catch, that’s why I walked off, but the TV umpire decided otherwise” said Heather Knight about the incident in the post-match presentation.
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The use of technology has added an aspect for the umpires to focus on, but has also expanded the possibilities for human errors. However, when such errors are made without proper checking of facts, the questions start to arise. At the end of the day, the technology is for the assistance in order to get to the right conclusion.
Had Knight been dismissed when she was on 13, the gates would have opened widely for the Asians to sneak through. To add to that, their spinners were in the game for the middle-overs, and could have capitalised on the chances to knock England over. Heather Knight stayed till the end to score an unbeaten 79, taking the British home despite losing wickets frequently.
As it turns out, England were extremely lucky to find themselves on the right side of the luck factor, not just once, but twice. Knight was reprieved when she was on 0 and 13, both turning in England’s favour. The rule states that the on-field decision should stand in the case where there’s no conclusive evidence for the decision to be overturned. But here, the situation was death with in a completely different manner.
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