The Indian innings began with 5/0 on the board, even before openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal had faced a single delivery in the second innings of the third ODI against Afghanistan at Chepauk on Sunday. This unusual start came after India were awarded five penalty runs following a mistake by Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi in the first innings.
Shahidi, whose rearguard effort took Afghanistan to a respectable total, was penalised for running on the restricted area of the pitch. It was the last delivery of the 40th over when Shahidi breached the restricted area for the second time. On-field umpires Chris Gaffaney and Rohan Pandit noted the infringement, disallowed the single he had taken, and handed five penalty runs to India.
What does the rule say?
Under Law 41.14 of the MCC Laws of Cricket, batters are penalised if they run on the “protected area”, a 5-foot by 2-foot zone in the centre of the pitch. The batting side receives one official warning for a first offence. Any subsequent instance of running on the pitch results in a 5-run penalty being awarded to the opposition, with all runs scored from that delivery disallowed.
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Battling cramps and the adverse Chennai heat, Shahidi scored a gritty ton, his maiden century in One Day Internationals. Amid a flurry of wickets at the other end, he held his ground, keeping his wicket intact to reach three figures in 126 deliveries.
Soon after reaching his hundred, Shahidi was down on the pitch once again, requiring medical attention for cramps. He holed out to Shreyas Iyer in the 45th over and was the last to fall as Afghanistan were bowled out for 218.
Indian pacer Prasidh Krishna dismissed Shahidi to complete his maiden ODI five-wicket haul. The pick of the Indian bowlers, Krishna removed all of Afghanistan’s top five batters.
Having already won the first two ODIs in Dharamsala and Lucknow, India are now eyeing a clean sweep in Chennai. Earlier, when the two sides met in the one-off Test in Mullanpur, the hosts registered their biggest win in Test history, triumphing by an innings and 300 runs.
