Five Instances When Penalty Runs Were Awarded

Awarding penalty runs are some of the rarest occurrences in cricket. No matter how much anyone is an avid cricket fan, they can miss out on some unusual rules of the sport. It can happen since instances of implementing those rules doesn’t come as often as the general ones.

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Rewarding of penalty runs is arguably one of the unique regulations set in the rulebook, having some rare instances. The umpire can hand penalty runs to any team on the field for several reasons, which many fans may not know. It sure is frustrating for the opposition; however, they have no choice but to abide by the umpire’s decision.

We take a look at five instances when penalty runs were awarded:

India vs New Zealand – 2016 Indore Test

Running on the pitch is strictly prohibited by the batsmen as it leaves foot-marks through the spikes in the shoes, causing damage to the deck. As a result of this, the track misbehaves, which is an undue advantage to the fielding side. However, it is what Ravindra Jadeja did in 2016 against the Kiwis in Indore.

It happened in the first innings as India were in a dominant position on the back of a double-century by Virat Kohli and a hundred from Ajinkya Rahane. When it was Jadeja’s chance to bat, he ran on the pitch twice, which was beneficial to him as the spin-bowling all-rounder could get the turn when bowling.

The umpires did not favour that, and they awarded five penalty runs to Kane Williamson’s New Zealand. The tourists began their first innings at 5-0; however, they eventually lost the game by 321 runs.

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Sri Lanka vs England – Pallekele Test 2018

Sri Lanka and England fought tooth and nail with a 3-0 prospect keeping both the sides burning. Roshen Silva, who top-scored in the first innings with 85, was again the centre of attention in Pallekele. Sri Lanka had to chase down 301 to avoid a humiliating series whitewash while England, who already won the series, were aiming to finish it perfectly.

Amid the pressure of run-chase, Roshen Silva played a cut shot off Jack Leach, which looked like it had enough legs to reach the boundary. However, Moeen Ali stopped it, but the batsman did not ground and sprinted in a bid to save his wicket. He was home safe, but the umpires did not spare him and rewarded penalty runs to the Englishmen. The hosts lost the match by 57 runs at the end.

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Pakistan vs South Africa – 2013 Dubai Test

This was one of the two instances in international cricket when Faf Du Plessis was booked for ball-tampering. At present, ball-tampering has become one of the most severe issues; however, Du Plessis got away with a lenient punishment. The umpires noticed that the former South African captain was rubbing the red cherry near his pant’s zip to gain reverse swing.

The officials labelled it as ball-tampering and gave five penalty runs to Pakistan along with changing the ball. Later, Ab de Villiers defended his teammate, saying they always play fairly. As far as a result was concerned, the tourists secured an emphatic victory by an innings and 92 runs. Visiting captain Graeme Smith received the man of the match award for scoring 234 runs.

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Australia vs New Zealand – 2020 Sydney Test

After the infamous ball-tampering scandal in 2018, David Warner once again grabbed the spotlight. This particular incident was similar to that of what transpired with Ravindra Jadeja in 2016. While Australia won the Test series by 3-0 quite comfortably, a marginally ugly incident hogged the limelight n the dead rubber third Test in Sydney.

Warner played a flick shot for a single. Umpire Aleem Dar warned him and Marnus Labuschagne once not to run in the middle of the pitch. When the left-handed batsman did the same thing again, Dar had no option but to reward their Trans-Tasman rivals five runs. Warner did plead innocence to them, claiming he had no choice but to sprint on the deck; however, Dar paid no mind.

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Pakistan women vs India women – 2018 T20 World Cup

The occurrence at the 2018 World T20 between India and Pakistan was one of the unique ones and one that may never resurface. The umpires imposed a double penalty on Nida Dar and Bismah Maroof. The umpires initially warned the two in the 13th over for the same.

But the officials slapped the penalty in the 18th over when the pair repeated the same, rewarding five runs to India. They were at it in the final ball of the innings too with the umpires gifting five more to the opposition. India began their innings at 10-0 and chased down the total of 134 with seven wickets to spare.

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