On Monday, the match between South Africa and Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2024 turned out to be an absolute thriller, with the Proteas securing a narrow 4-run victory against the Bangladesh Tigers. Bangladesh looked to be in a strong position to win the contest, especially when they needed 27 runs to reach the target from the last 4 overs. However, a loophole in DRS worked in the favor of South Africa and resulted in Bangladesh being robbed of a boundary, which in the end turned out to be the difference-maker.
All of this happened in the 17th over of the batting of Bangladesh, when Mahmudullah and TowidHridoy were in the middle. The second ball of the over saw Mahmudullah attempt a flick, but the ball hit his pads and raced to the boundary behind the stumps.
Following a strong appeal by the South Africans, the umpire raised his finger, and the ball was deemed dead. Bangladesh reviewed the call, and DRS showed that the ball wouldn't have hit the stumps; hence, the on-field umpire had to reverse his decision.
However, despite the decision being reversed, the boundary was not credited to Bangladesh's total, as the ball was considered dead after the umpire raised his finger. Even though the umpire was wrong, the dead ball call couldn't be overturned, as per the current ICC rules of the game.
Jaffer posted on X, “Mahmudullah was wrongly given out LBW; the ball went for four leg byes. The decision was reversed on DRS. Bangladesh didn’t get the four runs, as the ball is dead once a batter given out, even if wrongly. And SA ended up winning the game by four runs. Feel for Bangladesh fans.”