Cricket is a very popular game so even if a person is not an avid follower or fan of cricket, he/she will still have some basic knowledge about the game. For example, almost everybody must be aware of the fact that every over has six legal deliveries and the maximum runs that can be scored by a batsman in an over is 36, for which he needs to hit six consecutive sixers which has happened in the past but very rarely.
More than 36 runs can be scored in an over only if the bowler continues to bowl extras (wides and no balls) but that can’t be more than 2 or 3. However, a Bangladeshi bowler did something which is next to impossible.
On Tuesday, two clubs ‘Axiom’ and ‘Lalmatia’ were facing each other in the ‘Dhaka Second Division Cricket League’ which was being played at City Club Cricket Ground. Lalmatia club batted first and was all out for 88 runs in 14 overs (50 overs match) and you would be shocked to know that Axiom club played only 4 deliveries to win the match.
Sujon Mahmud, Lalmatia’s opening bowler, took away the opportunity of scoring runs from the batsmen of Axiom by giving away 92 runs in just 4 balls. Yes, we are not kidding, 65 wide runs came from 13 wide balls, 15 runs came from 3 no balls while remaining 12 runs were scored on the 4 legal deliveries.
However, it was done intentionally in order to protest against the umpiring decisions that went against the Lalmatia club.
Adnan Rahman Dipon, general secretary of Lalmatia, told Dhaka Tribune,
“It started at the toss. My captain was not allowed to see the coin and we were sent to bat first and … the umpires’ decisions went against us.”
He further added,
“My players are young, aged around 17, 18 and 19. They could not tolerate the injustice and thus reacted by giving away 92 runs in four deliveries.”
The umpiring has become a controversial matter in this tournament and just a day ago, on Monday, Tasnim Hasan, bowler of Fear Fighters Sporting Club, gave away 69 runs in just 7 legal deliveries in order to show anger against the bad umpiring.
This may be a way to express their protest but is it true to the spirit of the game? The organizers should look into the matter of umpiring if such incidents are taking place.
Just for your knowledge, maximum 77 runs have been given away in an over in the first class match and it happened in 1990. The bowler was Robert Vance who was playing for Wellington against Canterbury.