One of the most popular rules of cricket is that there are six balls in one over of the game. In a 20-over match, there are 20 overs, with six balls each, meaning there are a total of 120 balls in every innings. Similarly, in an ODI match, the number of overs are 50, and the total number of deliveries bowled are 300.
However, over the last few years, there have been a few incidents when the scoreboard manager, the on-field umpires as well as the match referee missed the number of balls in an over. Here’s a list of three such instances in international cricket history when a team escaped by bowling only 5 balls in one over.
1. Mustafizur Rahman bowled 5 balls in 1 over against West Indies
West Indies visited Bangladesh for an ODI series last year. During the first innings of the second ODI of the series, Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman bowled only five legitimate deliveries. According to the official scorers of the match, the on-field umpire Gazi Sohel made the mistake as he lost count of the legitimate deliveries during the two free hits bowled during the over.
2. Lasith Malinga bowled 5 balls in 1 over against India
This incident would be fresh in the minds of all the Indian fans. During the 2012 Commonwealth Bank Tri-series between India, Sri Lanka and Australia, there was a tied encounter between the Men in Blue and the islanders. In that game, the 30th over of the Indian innings was of five balls only.
Umpire Simon Fry prematurely ended the over. Fans thought that one ball could have made an impact on the final result of the match.
3. Naveen-ul-Haq
In today’s T20 WC 2022 match between Australia and Afghanistan, the fourth over of the Aussie innings had only five balls. Naveen-ul-Haq was the bowler. The miscalculation happened on the fourth ball, when the batters Mitchell Marsh and David Warner ran three on overthrows.
