There are few batsmen better in international cricket than Kane Williamson. The New Zealand skipper was on top of his game as his team emphatically won the second session on Day 2, finishing at 152/1, only 166 runs behind India's total. It was a far cry from last year when South Africa's batsmen were all at sea against the duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Williamson moved with purpose, defended with ease and was never bogged down, founding the boundaries at ease. There were a few occasional hiccups: one delivery from Ashwin reared up and hit him square in the helmet, but it hardly troubled the Kiwi skipper who continued on his way.
Tom Latham did not find things as easy, but he continued on and importantly, did not lose his wicket. It was a session not without incident though. On the fourth ball of the 36th over, Latham employed the sweep, one of his favoured shots against spin, to Jadeja. The ball caught his inside edge, ricocheted to his shoe and went to the fielder at bad-pad, KL Rahul who juggled with it but caught it eventually.
India were convinced that they were in business, the umpires were not and they went up to the third umpire. While the initial doubt was that the ball had hit the ground, the first replay quickly dispelled that as it was clear that the ball had gone straight off off Latham's shoe.
Clean catch, right? Not really. The replays indicated that while amidst Rahul's fumbles, the ball had touched the grill of the protective helmet he was wearing. The umpires ruled Latham not-out.
What do the rules say?
Law 32 of the Marylebone Cricket Club's Laws of Cricket deals with the regulations regarding a fair catch. Here's what it exactly says:
...it is not a fair catch if at any time after having been struck by the bat and before a catch is completed the ball has touched a protective helmet worn by a fielder.
In fact, the section goes into greater detail providing some more insight into how the interpretation of the law.
Batsman cannot be out Caught after the ball strikes a fielder's helmet
- If the ball strikes a helmet worn by any member of the fielding side at any time between the striker hitting the ball and the fielder completing the catch, then it cannot be out caught.
- The ball does not become dead on impact with a helmet being worn by a fielder, however, and so a run out is still possible.
This is not the first time, India have been involved in something similar. English batsman Jonny Bairstow was dismissed in Mumbai, with Gautam Gambhir catching him at bat-pad off Pragyan Ojha. Bairstow was not recalled then but it was later realised that the decision had been an incorrect one.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 152/1 (Kane Williamson 66 not out, Tom Latham 56 not out; Umesh Yadav 1/22) trail India 318 (Murali Vijay 65, Cheteshwar Pujara 62; Trent Boult 3/67, Mitchell Santner 3/94) by 166 runs