T20 World Cup 2022: 3 Instances when umpires penalised teams

2. South Africa vs Zimbabwe

South Africa locked horns with Zimbabwe on October 24. However, a two-hour-and-35-minute rain delay turned the game into a nine-over-contest. After electing to bat first, Zimbabwe posted 79 runs on the board with Wesley Madhevere (35 runs off 19 deliveries) top-scoring for them. And five of those runs came from an unintentional mistake made by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.

On the third ball of the final over of the innings (Zimbabawe), Milton Shumba top-edged Anrich Nortje’s delivery to the fine-leg fielder, Lungi Ngidi, who threw the ball to de Kock.

de Kock already had one of his gloves on the ground in a bid to throw the ball after collecting it but the incoming throw from Ngidi touched the glove. Umpire Michael Gough as per the laws of the game signaled a 5-run penalty and thus, five runs were added to Zimbabwe’s total.

It was MCC’s Law 28.3.2 that came into play in the above situation. It states that "If the ball while in play strikes the protective helmet (or any other object placed by the fielding team on the ground), the ball shall immediately become dead and, the umpire shall signal No ball or Wide to the scorers, if applicable, and, the umpire shall award 5 penalty runs to the batting side."

However, these five runs did not create much impact on the outcome of the game as the match was abandoned due to heavy rain.  South Africa were left stranded at 51 for no loss in three overs, too close yet too far for a comprehensive win.