UP Warriorz coach Jon Lewis openly expressed his frustration with the LBW decision against Chamari Athapaththu made by the Hawk-Eye technology.
The fate of the Women’s Premier League clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore Women and UP Warriorz Women took a decisive turn on March 4 in Bengaluru, marked by a contentious incident involving Sri Lankan all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu. In pursuit of a challenging target of 199, UP Warriorz seemed to be in control, credit goes to the strong start by openers Alyssa Healy and Kiran Navgire. However, the turning point came when Athapaththu was controversially dismissed at 63/2 in the 7th over, labeled leg-before wicket to Georgia Wareham’s delivery despite what seemed like an inside edge.
In the seventh over, Georgia Wareham took charge of the bowling duties, delivering her leg-breaks. Healy managed to score a six and a single, setting the stage for Athapaththu to face the third ball. Attempting a sweep, Athapaththu missed the line, prompting an appeal from the Bangalore fielders. Umpire Vrinda Rathi, however, declared her not out.
Upon reviewing the replay, it became evident that the ball had pitched in line with the leg stump. Given that it was the leg-spinner’s stock ball, it was expected to turn further away, possibly missing or just grazing the leg stump for the left-handed Athapaththu.
Surprisingly, Hawkeye indicated that the ball would have turned in the opposite direction, heading straight for the middle stump. Athapaththu expressed visible astonishment when the umpire ruled her out.
This decision disrupted UP Warriorz’s momentum, and their chase fell short in the end. The dismissal triggered a collapse as UP slid to 89-4, then 113-5, and eventually lost by 23 runs.
UP Warriorz coach Jon Lewis expressed his disappointment openly during the post-match press conference, not holding back his feelings about the decision.
“You watch the ball with the naked eye, and you think it might pitch in line, just maybe, Then you look at the ball rotating, and well, it’s rotating like a legspinner. There are not many legspinners that go towards that [other] side. It was a fascinating dismissal and a massive turning point for us in that game,” Lewis said.
“Chamari is an amazing player and you saw how difficult it was when a left-hander and a right-hander were batting together, of the quality of Smriti [Mandhana] and Ellyse Perry. And they can access the short side of the ground. That was one of the reasons why we picked Chamari, to be able to access the short side of the ground for both the right and the left-hander. So to lose her in that way was incredibly frustrating,” he further added.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of hawk-eye and the technology and how it works. But it was certainly an interesting passage of play and something that we are pretty frustrated about,” concluded Lewis.
