Northamptonshire bowler Saif Zaib was denied a wicket in a strange no-ball error during the T20 Blast 2024 quarter-final. During Northamptonshire’s clash against Somerset, fans witnessed a bizarre incident taking place where a rare no-ball error by the wicketkeeper led to the umpire calling for a no-ball. Notably, in the sport, a no-ball is an illegal delivery by the bowler, which gives a batter a free hit in the limited-over match. There can be several reasons for a no-ball but, what happened in the T20 Blast league was bizarre and unique in its own way.
During the quarterfinal clash between Northamptonshire and Somerset played on September 5, former team’s bowler Saif Zaib was denied a wicket due to an unnoticed error by wicketkeeper. In the last moments of the first innings, Zaib bowled a delivery to trick Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory into a stumping. However, after a quick DRS review, it was noticed that wicketkeeper Lewis McManus had his gloves in front of the stumps before he hit them. In the video, the umpire could be heard asking to rewind the footage and saying, “So that’s a clear no ball. The gloves are in front of the stumps.”
Internet gets divided after umpire rules out wicket in T20 Blast 2024 quarterfinal
Soon after the video of the umpire ruling out the wicket went viral, the internet got divided and while some opposed the decision, others opined that it was fair.
Here’s how netizens reacted to the no-ball error.
The match saw Somerset registering a win over their counterparts to make it to the next stage. Somerset’s Tom Banton led his side’s innings with his 43-ball 75, with a combination of six fours and five sixes. Tom Kohler-Cadmore came up with a knock of 63 runs and helped the side put up a total of 215 runs on the board. In return, David Willey scored 57 runs but his side failed to chase the target and fell short of 17 runs from reaching the total.