Chris Gayle on fire ............ dead ball striking spider cam cables !!!

At Chinnasamy Stadium Bangalore, in match no. 40 of IPL 2015, RCB put in by KXIP –Bailey must be ruing his decision, as Chris Gayle is on fire ! Things are looking bleak for Punjab… before that a nauseating placard read – ‘marry me Gayle – you have the permission of my hubby’ – what levels people lower themselves !!!

Do you know the  “dead ball rule” ?    In Aug 2012  Umpire Steve Davis repeatedly called "dead ball" after England fast bowler Steven Finn had continued a habit, which has previously gone unpunished, of occasionally dislodging the bails with his knee as he delivered the ball. South Africa batsmen Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen both complained Finn's actions were distracting them after the Middlesex pace man unwittingly achieved the feat at least three times in his opening over.  Disastrously for the 23-year-old, he once n dislodged the bails, leading Davis to call "dead ball" before Proteas captain Smith, on six at the time, nicked the ball to Andrew Strauss at first slip.

 In Jan 2013  at Mohali, Alastair Cook felt that Steven Finn's knee did them in. But the reaction of Cook and his argument with umpire Steve Davis smacked of arrogance or of ignorance of law ~ the latter cannot be true as they have had previous experience of the same law that was  invoked Law 23.  Over no. 36 – India 178/5 needing 80 more… Finn was the bowler, Raina launched into a drive, edged, well taken at first slip by England captain ~ Steve Davis declared a ‘dead ball’ ~ Cook ran towards the Umpire and started arguing furiously… well, rule is a rule and there was nothing Umpire could do about.

Back in IPL 8, on the field, Kings XI Punjab might wonder how their campaign is nosediving for the team who were runners-up last year.    With five games to go, they are sinking to the bottom even as  others are egging in the mid-section of the points table. It's a no-brainer that they will have to win all their games from now on, and hope for other results to be favourable.  Simply, the team with Virender Sehwag,  Murali Vijay, George Bailey, David Miller, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell – have their batting perform miserably not able to cross 150 regularly.   The only solace before the toss was the fact that  RCB having lost four of their six games against Kings XI at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Gayle hardly knows  statistics nor cares for it….. in a murderous mood – completing his century in mere 46 balls ! with  5 boundaries and 11 over it. His 14^th ton in T20.   Earlier he made his 50 off 22 – but that was only the 5^th fastest – Harbhajan off 18 balls is the fastest in this IPL …. Earlier at 4.5 – Gayle having played only 18 balls – Anureet Singh bowled a rank ordinary ball, which was heaved over midwicket – it went high and just crossed the ropes ……… there was some discussion in the middle with Maxwell claiming something.   On replays, it was found that the ball had just hissed the spider cam cables and the six was undone – cruelly called a dead ball !!!!

Now read Law 23 (Dead ball)

1. Ball is dead

(a) The ball becomes dead when

(i) it is finally settled in the hands of the wicket-keeper or the bowler.

(ii) a boundary is scored. See Law 19.3 (Scoring a boundary).

(iii) a batsman is dismissed.

(iv) whether played or not it becomes trapped between the bat and person of a batsman or between items of his clothing or equipment.

(v) whether played or not it lodges in the clothing or equipment of a batsman or the clothing of an umpire.

(vi) it lodges in a protective helmet worn by a member of the fielding side.

(vii) there is a contravention of either of Laws 41.2 (Fielding the ball) or 41.3 (Protective helmets belonging to the fielding side).

(viii) there is an award of penalty runs under Law 2.6 (Player returning without permission).

(ix) Lost ball is called. See Law 20 (Lost ball).

(x) the umpire calls Over or Time.

(b) The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the umpire at the bowler's end that the fielding side and both batsmen at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.

**  Besides the above, under Standard playing conditions for T20 which would have been adopted for IPL too :

23.1 Law 23.4 – Umpire calling and signalling ‘Dead Ball’ :  In a match where cameras are being used on or over the field of play (e.g. Spydercam), should a ball that has been hit by the batsman make contact, while still in play, with the camera, its apparatus or its cable, either umpire shall call and signal ‘dead ball’. The ball shall not count as one of the over and no runs shall be scored.

If the delivery was called a no ball it shall count and the no ball penalty applied, including if appropriate a free hit from the next delivery. No other runs (including penalty runs) apart from the no ball penalty shall be scored.

Should a ball thrown by a fielder make contact with a camera on or over the field of play, its apparatus or its cable, either umpire shall call and signal dead ball. Unless this was already a no-ball or wide, the ball shall count as one of the over. All runs scored to that point shall count, plus the run in progress if the batsmen have already crossed. **

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

6^th May 2015.