An umpiring decision made on ‘inconclusive video evidence’ allowed England’s Heather Knight to battle on against Bangladesh and secure her side a four-wicket win in an ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 league match in Guwahati on Tuesday.
The former England skipper, who cashed in on her vast experience to see through a middle-order wobble, was handed three reprieves. While two were LBW decisions overturned, the last one raised many eyebrows, including her own.
In the 15th over of England’s chase, Knight was on 13 and faced Fahima Khatun, who was bowling her second over. She chipped one to Shorna Akte at cover, who seemed to have taken a clean catch.
Knight was convinced and began walking back to the dugout before the television umpire, Gayathri Venugopalan, began reviewing the footage to confirm if the catch was executed cleanly.
The umpire found the multiple replays to be inconclusive but decided to rule out the catch. Thereon, Knight maximised her extra life to score an unbeaten 79 off 111 balls.
Speaking at the post-match ceremony, the Player of the Match shared her thoughts on the reprieve: “I thought it carried and thought it was a fair catch, which is why I walked off. The third umpire decided otherwise.”
Published on Oct 07, 2025
