「落ち着くのは難しい。」

In a dramatic Women’s Premier League (WPL) match in Vadodara, Mumbai Indians coach Charlotte Edwards expressed her frustration over controversial run-out decisions that played important in their narrow loss to Delhi Capitals. The game ended with Delhi clinching a last-ball victory, and these umpiring calls have sparked widespread debate.

Edwards questions umpiring decisions in WPL

Charlotte Edward addressed the questionable umpiring decisions that allowed Delhi Capitals players Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, and Shikha Pandey to be ruled out, even though the LED stumps lit up earlier. “You’ve got to stay pretty calm. It is really hard when there’re many decisions to go to the third umpire. The result of the game is looking at the big screen,” she explained. Edwards pointed out that these calls complicated Mumbai’s path to victory. “It’s pretty hard. I’ve played the game and been around the game to know…it’s the game and we just have to move on. We look forward to playing here on Tuesday,” she added.

Mithali Raj and Mike Hesson weigh in

India’s former cricketer and captain, Mithali Raj observed during the match that the decisions concerning Arundhati and Radha Yadav should have gone in favour of Mumbai. Mike Hesson, former RCB director, also shared his disbelief about the umpiring decisions, highlighting that the rules say a wicket is broken when the LED stumps first light up. “Not sure why the umpire tonight has decided that the zinger bails are not applicable? Once bails lights up connection is lost therefore the wicket is broken! That is in the playing conditions! Have seen more confusion in the last 10 mins than ever before,” he posted on X.

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Missed opportunities for Mumbai Indians

Even with a starry performance from Nat Sciver-Brunt, who scored an unbeaten 80, and support from Harmanpreet Kaur, Mumbai Indians couldn’t win the match. Edwards felt they missed a chance to score more runs, expressing, “We should have gotten to 180, which we didn’t, and that hurt us in the end.” She also acknowledged the strong play by Delhi’s Shafali, noting, “Shafali played brilliantly. But that’s T20 cricket.”

Mumbai Indians looking ahead to next WPL matches

Despite the setback, Edwards remains spirited, focused on refining strategies before their next match against Gujarat. Delhi player Shikha Pandey played a key role by taking crucial wickets and praised her team’s efforts, enthusing, “We are still not at full strength and have some superstars who couldn’t play today. And to get a team like MI which is paying on full strength all out was amazing.”