Jharkhand Files BCCI Complaint Over Scorer Error in Women's U19 Loss

The Jharkhand Cricket Association (JCA) has lodged a formal complaint with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), alleging that an official scorer's error led to their Women's Under-19 team's one-run defeat against Uttarakhand. The JCA contends that a completed run at the 19.4-over mark was omitted from the official score, denying Jharkhand a potential tie and ending their tournament campaign.

In the match played last Tuesday at the Amritbai Daga College ground in Nagpur, Uttarakhand posted 134 for 6. Jharkhand, in reply, were dismissed for 133 off the final delivery of their innings, falling short by a single run. The JCA's complaint asserts that this disputed call directly altered the match outcome and deprived the team of at least a share of the points, consequently eliminating them from the Women's Under-19 tournament.

The JCA's account details that at 19.4 overs, one of their batters was run out while attempting a second run. According to the association, the official scorer recorded only the dismissal, failing to credit the first run that had been completed before the run-out. This crucial run was never reflected in Jharkhand's total. Although the scoreboard operator at the ground did display the updated score including the disputed run, leading players to continue their innings based on that tally, the official scorer declined to alter the entry when challenged immediately after the match.

An unnamed Jharkhand Cricket official was quoted by Outlook, stating, "The scoreboard at the far end had the updated score after each ball but the main scorer forgot to add one run which cost us a tie. We requested the scorer to make the correction but he didn’t. As per the rule, umpires have to go by the scorer and not at the person doing scoring at the scoreboard." The JCA's argument to the BCCI hinges on this procedural point, where umpires are bound by the official scorer's record over the venue scoreboard. The BCCI's response to the complaint and any subsequent action remains unconfirmed.

What to watch: The BCCI's investigation into the scoring discrepancy.

Editor's note: Thoroughly utilizes all available facts, figures, and quotes from the source text.