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The Gunathilaka-Pollard incident as it took place.
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
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Pollard has his hands around Gunathilaka’s shoulders and apologises after the incident.
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Sri Lanka’s dashing opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka became the eighth batsman in ODI cricket to be given out for ‘obstructing the field’ during the first ODI against West Indies played at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in Antigua on Wednesday. But the big question is, was he the victim of poor judgment by the third umpire?
The key part of the ‘obstructing the field’ law (Law 37.2/37.3) according to the MCC, is intent – which can be hard to judge. If the obstruction is wilful, it will be out, but if it’s accidental then it is not out.
What the replays showed is that Gunathilaka, in his effort to get back to the crease, didn’t know where the ball was when he moved his left foot back and back-heeled it, thus preventing Kieron Pollard, the West Indies Captain from affecting a possible run out.
On field umpire Joe Wilson referred the incident to the third umpire Nigel Duguid (who has officiated in seven ODIs, and 19 T20Is), who very hurriedly took the decision that it was an obstructing the field offence and ruled Gunathilaka out. The decision was a harsh one on the batsman who was batting fluently at that stage on 55 off 61 balls.
The wickets of Gunathilaka and his opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne in quick succession triggered a collapse in the Lankan batting, as they slipped from 105-0 to 232 all out, to lose the contest by eight wickets.
The decision left former cricketers like West Indies Captain Darren Sammy and Australian batsman Tom Moody shocked, and fans on social media disagreeing with the decision, with many of the view that it was against the spirit of the game.
After the match Cricket West Indies released pictures of Danushka Gunathilaka and West Indies captain Kieron Pollard having a chat.
Gunathilaka was quoted as saying: “He (Pollard) apologised. He told me he didn’t see that properly at that time and only after he saw the video he realised I didn’t do anything.”
