Follow UsAn interesting incident took place after the final ball of the 47th of the match between Australia and Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Lahore on February 28 (Friday). Azmatullah Omarzai hit the ball to long-on and completed an easy simple. That should have been that, right?
But Noor Ahmad, after completing the run, was walking to the other end with the ball still not dead. The throw came in from the fielder, and wicketkeeper Josh Inglis knocked the wickets over with Noor out of the crease.
Inglis appealed, forcing the umpires to interfere. However, skipper Steve Smith was not keen and withdrew the appeal immediately. As a result, Noor continued his innings despite being out of the crease when the ball was still live. As per the rules, Noor was OUT!
It was similar to what had happened to Muttiah Muralitharan in 2006-07 when Brendon McCullum knocked the bails over when the Sri Lankan wandered out of the crease to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara on his century when over was not called.
More recently, Jonny Bairstow, too, wandered off the crease after ducking a short ball from Cameron Green in 2023. But wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw the ball onto the wicket with Bairstow out of his crease. Australia appealed, and it was given out.
However, since Smith withdrew his appeal, nothing came of it in the end.