CWG 2022: Shafali Verma 'bizarrely' given not-out despite being outside the crease; Watch

The India women’s cricket team started their campaign at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games on Friday with a three-wicket loss against Australia in their first group stage match. The match marked the debut of women’s T20I cricket in the coveted quadrennial showpiece event. Despite the loss in their CWG debut, Team India found themselves in the headlines for various reasons.

In the first innings of the match, India batter Shafali Verma became the most talked about player after she was given not out by the third umpire, despite being out of the crease by a significant distance. The moment occurred in the 9th over of the first innings, when Aussie spinner Tahlia McGrath was bowling to Shafali Verma. While McGrath pitched the ball outside the leg stump, wicketkeeper Aless Healy collected the bowl cleanly and took off the bails as soon as possible.

However, while doing so, Healy forgot to change the ball from her left hand to right and removed the ball with her rand. As per the rules in cricket, the ball needs to be in contact with the hand that has been used to dislodge the stumps. Although Healy tried to correct the mistake and remove the bails, Verma quietly made her way back to the crease. The third umpire review confirmed that the ball was in the wrong hand, which led Verma to be adjourned not-out. 

Watch Shafali Verma being adjourned not out:

More about Shafali Verma's knock against Australia at CWG 2022-

During her stay at the crease, Shafali Verma scored 48 runs in 33 balls with the help of nine fours and finished as the second-highest run scorer for India in the match. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored the maximum of 53 runs in 34 balls, while Smriti Mandhana earlier hit 24 runs in 17 balls. While Jess Jonassen returned with the best figures of 4/22 for Australia, India were restricted to a total of 154/8 in the first innings.

Chasing the target, Australia went on to lose five wickets in quick successions as they found themselves hanging at 49/5 in 7.2 overs. India pacer Renuka Singh was in her prime form as she returned with the figures of 4/18, after removing Australia’s top-4 batters. However, Ashleigh Gardener played an unbeaten knock of 52 runs in 55 balls and took Australia through to victory. While Grace Harris contributed with a knock of 37 runs in 20 balls, Alana King also remained unbeaten after scoring 18 runs in 16 balls. India will now face Pakistan in their next group match on August 31, before facing Barbados.

(Image: @ppushp7/Twitter/BCCI/Sony LIV)