Delhi Capitals lost against Gujarat Titans not because David Miller denied a single, but because of a controversial loophole in ICC rules.
What actually happened is that while chasing 211 runs, Gujarat Titans’ batsman Nitish Rana was batting. In the 10th over, Rashid Khan bowled a delivery that hit Nitish Rana directly on the pad, and the umpire raised his finger, giving him out. But the important thing to notice is that during this entire process, both Delhi Capitals batsmen had already completed their run.
However, according to ICC and MCC Law 20.1.1.3, as soon as the umpire gives a batsman out, the ball immediately becomes dead. After that, batsmen cannot take runs, no matter how far the ball goes.
But here comes the big twist. As soon as the umpire gave Nitish Rana out, he probably realized that there was an edge, and he immediately took a review. The third umpire checked and found that Nitish Rana was not out, and the on-field umpire had to reverse the decision.
This is where the controversy begins, because Delhi lost the match by one run. If Nitish Rana had not been given out by the umpire, that run would have counted, and Delhi could have reached 210 runs, making the match a tie. We might have even seen the first Super Over of the season.
Talking about the match, Gujarat Titans displayed excellent batting. Shubman Gill scored 70 runs off 45 balls, Washington Sundar made 55 runs off 32 balls, and Jos Buttler scored 52 runs off 27 balls.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals also had a good start. KL Rahul scored 92 runs off 52 balls. David Miller, who fought till the end, made 41 runs off 20 balls, and Pathum Nissanka scored 41 runs off 24 balls. But in the end, Delhi lost the match by 1 run.
This rule, Law 20.1.1.3, is highly controversial, and there have been voices raised from time to time demanding changes to it. And perhaps it is high time for the ICC to think about modifying this rule, because in a game like cricket, every single run and every single ball can decide the outcome.
