Harshal Patel was allowed to continue bowling despite bowling two waist-high no balls during the IPL 2025 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants on Monday (May 19). Here's why.
LSG vs SRH: Harshal Patel bowls two waist-high no-balls
The first incident occurred in the 16th over when Harshal, aiming for Aiden Markram's stumps, delivered a waist-high full toss. Markram went on his toes and smashed it over deep mid-wicket for six. The umpire immediately called a no-ball, awarding a free hit to LSG.
The second instance came in the penultimate over of LSG's innings. Harshal, bowling from around the wicket to Nicholas Pooran, began by conceding a single followed by two wides. He then bowled another waist-high full toss close to the wide line, which Pooran edged towards third man. The umpire again signalled a no-ball, but Harshal was not barred from bowling as is often the case on bowling multiple waist-high no-balls.
Questions were raised on whether the umpires erred in allowing Harshal to complete his spell, but as per the rules, the correct decision was made.
Match 61, Lucknow Super Giants vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
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What do the laws say?
Article 41.7 of IPL 2025's playing conditions deals with waist-high no-balls. It differentiates between an "unfair" and a "dangerous" delivery. A delivery is defined as dangerous by clause 41.7.2 "if the bowler’s end umpire considers that there is a risk of injury to the striker".
The factors to be taken into consideration in judging whether there's a risk of injury are: "the speed, height and direction of the delivery; the skill of the striker; and the repeated nature of such deliveries."
According to clause 41.7.4, a bowler is only suspended if there is a second "dangerous" delivery in an innings after a warning has already been given for the first such instance.
While Harshal’s first waist-high no-ball was relatively closer to Markram’s body, the second one to Pooran was well outside his bodyline. Given the non-dangerous nature of the second no-ball, Harshal did not need to be suspended from bowling further in the innings.
The current MCC law around "dangerous" waist-high no-balls (which is essentially the same as what's prescribed in the IPL playing conditions) is the result of an amendment that took effect in April 2019. The key change empowered umpires to determine what constitutes a dangerous delivery to batters. This revision came due to widespread feedback that the previous regulations - where any and every waist-high no-ball was considered dangerous - were overly harsh on bowlers.
LSG posted 205-7 batting first. Mitchell Marsh (65 off 39 balls) and Aiden Markram (61 off 38) laid a solid foundation, before Nicholas Pooran's 45 off 26 balls provided late impetus. However, SRH are well on course to seal victory, needing just 19 more runs from the last three overs with seven wicket in hand at the time of writing.
Earlier in the game, Harshal Patel, who dismissed Markram, became the fastest to 150 IPL wickets in terms of balls bowled (2,381).
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