But the umpires – Anna Harris and Jacqueline Williams – decided the ball was dead, and anything that came after, the dismissal in this case, would not count as having occurred with the ball “in play”.
Speaking after the game, Devine said she hadn’t heard the umpire call the over and that she and Kerr were trying steal an additional run. “My understanding is that the ball is dead when the umpire calls ‘over’ and I didn’t hear the umpire call ‘over’,” she said. “It was an interesting one, and I guess it broke a little bit of momentum and maybe stalled them [India] a bit. That’s part of cricket. Interpretation is going to be slightly different. We were always trying to pinch runs here and there because you never know when one run is going to change things. The umpires have a job to do and we respect that, and I sometimes push the boundaries a little bit.”
For context, here’s a look at the operative part of the MCC rule on the matter.
However, the questions didn’t end there.
Since it was ruled a single, Kerr should have been back on strike for the start of the next over. However, it was Devine who took strike against Renuka Singh and nudged a single. Kerr was out off the following delivery when she hit the ball to Pooja Vastrakar at extra cover, to be dismissed for 13 off 22 balls.
“We know how important Amelia’s wicket was, at that moment it felt a little [like] why didn’t it go in our favour,” Rodrigues said. “But, at the same time, I think we did what we can. We spoke to the umpire. Then we had to accept the decision of the umpire and move on. So I think that’s what we did really well, that we just moved on from that. And we got her out pretty soon. So that works for us.”
