Due to the confusion about the DLS target, the play was stopped nine balls into the Bangladesh chase in 2nd T20I.
If you thought you’d seen everything on the cricket field, you were wrong. There have been bizarre reasons for which the play has been stopped in the past. Some of them included bees attack and overly bright sun. The second T20I between New Zealand and Bangladesh saw another such incident.
Bangladesh started the chase in a rain-affected match, but there was some confusion among their camp regarding the exact target. At first, it seemed like they needed to chase 148 in 16 overs as that’s the number they were shown on the scoreboard at McLean Park. But 1.3 overs into the chase, umpires decided to stop the play.
After several minutes, it came to light that the target was 170 in 16 overs. The match referee and the on-field umpires conveyed the revised target to the visitors and then only the play resumed.
There was an operational issue at the ground, which meant the DLS sheet could not be handed over to the teams. The target score was verbally communicated to the umpires at the start of the innings. However, play had to be halted after 1.3 overs as the teams requested for the DLS sheet to know the targets at different points during the innings. Play was resumed once the DLS sheets were provided to the teams.
an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo.
Russell Domingo questions conduct of the match
When the game resumed, the target was told to be 170 in 16 overs but later in the match. It was learned that the correct target was 171.
Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo said that the whole situation was extremely frustrating and that the players shouldn’t have stepped on the field without knowing the correct revised target.
That Bangladesh played a few overs without even knowing the target makes this a rare incident that puts under scrutiny who calculates the DLS scores and if it is indeed as complicated when there’s a DLS sheet to refer to.
I don’t think I have been involved in a game before where batters go out and don’t know what the DLS target is. There was a lot of rain around. Nobody had any idea of how many we needed after five or six overs. I don’t think the game should have started until it was finalised, before there was a clear indication of what is required, and what we needed at certain stages. I don’t quite think it was good enough this evening.
Domingo expressed.
