Was Chamari Athapaththu out or did the DRS mess up?

The Decision Review System (DRS), in the modern day and age, has proved to be an efficient method to eliminate wrong umpiring decisions. However, despite multiple advancements in the system, there are a few rare occasions when it leaves a grey area. The umpire’s call is the biggest example. 

But in the worst case scenario, a few DRS calls have turned a right on-field decision into a wrong one. Chamari Athapaththu, in Match 11, suffered such a call going against her. 

What happened - on the field

The incident occurred in the seventh over of UP Warriorz’ run chase. Athapaththu tried to sweep a full delivery from the leg-spinner Georgia Wareham but missed the ball altogether. A loud appeal followed and the umpire Vrinda Rathi adjudged it in favor of the batter. 

After a brief discussion with her teammates, Smriti Mandhana, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s skipper, hesitantly opted for the review. 

The replays showed the ball to be pitching right in front of Athapaththu’s front boot and turning away from the leg stump before hitting her front pad. There was no bat involved. But that was not the query. 

The Ball Tracker found the ball to be pitching just in line with the leg stump. The minimal distance between the pitch of the ball and the impact where it hit the left-handed batter skewed the technology’s comprehension, deeming it go straight with the angle and hit the middle stump. 

The RCB players celebrated in utter surprise. Athapaththu was in shock with her eyes glued at the giant screen showing the replays. Meanwhile, Alyssa Healy, UPW’s captain at the non-striker’s end, was seen in an animated chat with the umpire Rathi after she overturned her decision. Athapaththu had to depart. 

What happened - with the technology

The Ball Tracker only considers what has already transpired with the ball - the delivery angle, the turn or any other kind of lateral movement - before it has hit the batter. 

In Athapaththu’s case, the Ball Tracker comprehended the ball to be hitting the left-hander on the full. Hence, it determined the ball to go straight with the angle and crash into the middle of the middle stump. 

However, the slow replays before the Ball Tracker, indicated that it was a conventional leg-spinner from Wareham. Therefore, there was some discrepancy between the earlier replays and the Ball Tracker. 

The question remains - where did the ball actually pitch? Did DRS have a glitch? 

What happened later? 

Athapaththu’s dismissal was the turning point of the game during UP’s chase. They were chasing 199 and were heavily reliant on two of their swashbuckling top-four batters to get them across the line. 

56/1 at the start of the seventh over, UP were well in the chase. They needed a partnership between Healy and Athapaththu. But the left-hander’s dismissal for 8 pushed them back in the chase. It left Healy and Grace Harris with too much to do. 

It also brought Harris to the crease a tad too early. UP could have innovated by promoting Shweta Sehrawat to number four but they stuck with their tried and tested method of Harris at four. 

Harris was out in the next over and UP’s chase lost its steam. Eventually, they lost by 23 runs.