India A captain Tilak Varma’s side faced a costly setback during the fourth match of the Tri-Nation A series against Sri Lanka A at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Monday. Sri Lanka A began their chase with 10 runs already added to the scoreboard after Vipraj Nigam was penalised twice for running on the protected area of the pitch.
The first incident occurred in the 35th over bowled by Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, when Nigam received a second warning for running down the middle of the pitch. As a result, the umpires imposed a five-run penalty and declared the delivery a dead ball. A similar offence took place again in the 37th over, leading to another five-run penalty for India A.
Nigam’s second infringement happened while attempting a quick single after guiding Kugathas Mathulan’s delivery towards short third-man. Earlier in the innings, Anukul Roy had already been issued a warning for the same offence before his dismissal in the 33rd over, meaning any further violation from India A batters resulted in an automatic penalty.
Interestingly, India A had earlier benefited from five penalty runs after Sri Lanka A wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella failed to gather a wide delivery cleanly, with the ball deflecting onto the stationary helmet placed behind the stumps.
What do the rules state?
As per the official laws of the game, if a batter is judged to have run on the protected area of the pitch either deliberately or carelessly, the umpire issues an initial warning. Any further violation after that leads to a five-run penalty for the batting side.
Batters are always instructed to avoid running on the protected area of the pitch to maintain its condition throughout the match. Repeated running through the middle can damage the surface, as spiked shoes may create rough marks and foot holes.
What happened in the match?
In the India A vs Sri Lanka A clash, Sri Lanka A won the toss and chose to field first. India A found themselves struggling at 143/7 before Vipraj Nigam and Suryansh Shedge staged an impressive recovery with a 104-run stand for the eighth wicket, helping the team reach 265.
Vipraj scored 51 before getting dismissed, while Suryansh played a valuable knock of 71. The latter was dismissed in the penultimate over of the innings.
Before this match, India A had defeated Sri Lanka A in their opening game but later suffered a loss to Afghanistan A via the DLS method.
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