when Erasmus delivered a dead-ball !!

 

The 18^th match of ICC T20 WC was a damp-squid – why the minnows put India in after the winning the toss is inexplicable, so also the decision of not giving another over to Varun Chakravarthi !!  

A massive 93-run win despite India not being great in patches. The chase looked to threaten when Sttenkamp and Frylinck started well but then came Varun, wrecking the attacking attempts of Namibia. Once Erasmus fell to Axar, the game was effectively done. Bumrah bowled all four, after being brought on after the powerplay. Every bowler got a wicket at least. 

After Pak match, Tariq has been in the headlines because of his unconventional action. The off-spinner, who has a hypermobile (double-jointed) elbow that prevents him from fully straightening his arm, a trait once associated with Muttiah Muralitharan, has been taking wickets consistently in T20 cricket.  What makes him particularly dangerous is his diagonal run-up and exaggerated two-to-three-second pause at the crease, which completely disrupt a batter’s timing and rhythm.  It appeared as though, he runs in, stops – waits to decide on whether to bowl or not !!  

India posted 209 for 9— a powerful batting effort against Namibia in their T20 World Cup clash in Delhi, driven largely by  Ishan Kishan at the top  and a late push by Hardik Pandyua.  India stormed to 86 in the powerplay, racing away in the first six overs. Then came a lull. Between overs eight and 12, India managed just 20 runs from 30 deliveries. That was when Namibia’s spinners — captain Gerhard Erasmus and Bernard Scholtz — tightened the screws and dragged the contest back.

 

            India were cruising at 104 for 1 at the end of the seventh over. Ishan Kishan was in destructive mood, sending the Namibian seamers on a leather hunt and peppering the stands with clean strikes. Erasmus changed the tone immediately. With the first ball of his spell — a half-tracker delivered from around the wicket — he tempted Ishan into a miscued pull that was safely pouched at deep mid-wicket. 

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus caught the eye with a stunning performance in the game against India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. On a high scoring pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Erasmus picked up figures of 4/20 in his four overs. The all-rounder however came under the scanner for his bowling tricks along with his round arm action, reminding us of Kedar Jadhav.    

Somehow his action made many say him - 'Usman Tariq of Namibia'  - his ' action has been a major talking point throughout the ICC t20 World Cup 2026. He bowls with a round arm angle, crouching and then bringing the ball in from a wide angle.  It was going lower and lower and .. .. and he was delivering at will from every possible place ! – couple of times not even reaching the non-striker stumps !!  

He came to bowl the 8^th over and with a length first ball delivered in a obtuse angle, made Ishan crouch and hit to Shikongo at deep mid-wicket.  He was bowling slingers which perhaps Indian batters were finding difficult to read, locate and hit !!

Funnily enough the last ball of the 8^th over – wide down the leg was called a Dead ball, not a wide !!  It appeared as though the delivery took place immediately after crossing the Umpire but much before the stumps .. Umpire Rod Tucker was not happy.  He had a tiny conversation with the bowler.  Many slingers were to follow and on another instance, of a very similar delivery, the same Umpire did not take any action.  He was bending lower and lower but keeping his arms up, sending them to a nagging length just outside off inviting drives through the cover.  He then with a super slower ball that kept very low, beat Axar Patel into submission. 

 

Bowling from behind the stumps is not illegal in t20Is and Erasmus did that to good effect later to dismiss Tilak Varma. He also dismissed Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel in a fine spell of spin bowling.  Figures of 4-0-20-4 would make any bowler happy especially against Team India. 

Cricket law 20 deals with ‘Dead ball’ – it is more of situations after delivery – settling in the hands of keeper, when boundary or sixer is scored; when batter is dismissed; when trapped between bat and person or clothing or equipment – whether  the ball is finally settled or not is a matter for the umpire alone to decide.  

It is the Umpire at the Bowler end who may call and signal Dead ball if it is necessary to inform the players. Further either Umpire may call and signal a dead ball – when there is unfair play, possibly serious to a player occurs, one or both bails falling before Striker plays the ball; striker not ready; striker distracted and the like and when the  bowler drops the ball accidentally before delivery.  

While there is more sub-sections to the Law, there does not appear any condition on from where the ball is to be delivered when the line is not crossed. 

May we would get to read more on this dead-ball incident.

 

Regards – S Sampathkumar
12.2.2026