‘Out, not out, out’: Archer run-out stumps TV umpire during England win

England were correctly awarded a bizarre and unusual run-out in their final ODI against Sri Lanka – but only after the umpires changed their mind twice.

Set the epic task of chasing 356 on a good pitch at the Oval, Sri Lanka had stumbled to 77 for three in the 15th over.

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Charith Asalanka guided Liam Dawson to short third man, where Jofra Archer was fielding, and ran. Archer threw down the stumps with a superb direct hit before Asalanka's partner Pavan Rathnayake had made his ground, and the square-leg umpire, Rob White, gave him out on-field.

However a replay revealed that England's wicketkeeper, Jordan Cox, had dislodged both bails before Archer's throw hit the stumps. This would often void the run-out, or require the wicketkeeper to pluck a stump out of the ground to make up for the absence of the bails.

The sight of the bails lighting up caused White and his on-field colleague Wayne Knights to send the decision up to Adrian Holdstock, the TV umpire. Soon after, Holdstock overturned White's decision, with "not out" flashing up on the big screen as the players took drinks.

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Further consideration revealed that the decision required overturning for a second time. While Cox had knocked the bails off with a slightly clumsy piece of keeping, Archer's throw had sufficient force to knock one of the stumps entirely out of the ground, meaning that Rathnayake should have been given out.

The two relevant Marylebone Cricket Club Laws read as follows:

29.2.1.1: "The wicket is broken fairly if a bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or a stump is struck out of the ground by the ball."

29.2.1.6: "The wicket is also broken fairly if a fielder strikes or pulls a stump out of the ground (as in 29.2.1.5)."

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The MCC are understood to believe the correct decision was reached, and may even issue a clarification in the coming days.

Tom Banton, who made a maiden England hundred in the first innings, admitted he did not know the law.

"I'll be honest, I have never seen that before, so I actually don't know," Banton said. "But we take the mick out of Jamie Overton because he seems to know everything, and he said it was out straight away."

The Sky commentator Kumar Sangakkara, like Overton, had been immediately confident that Rathnayake should have been given out, while his colleague Mark Butcher was left baffled.

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"What I find hard to believe is that in all the years I've either played or commentated on the game, I've never seen this before or heard that law before," Butcher said.

The whole shemozzle had taken around four minutes, but the right decision was reached.

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