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Explainer: Neil Wagner's run-out

Bangladesh tour of New Zealand 2016-17, Cricket

In their first innings in Christchurch, New Zealand lost their tenth wicket in unusual circumstances, when the third umpire ruled Neil Wagner run out despite his having grounded his bat before wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan's flick had disturbed the bails.

Rather than drag his bat past the crease, Wagner had plonked it in and then lifted it; at the point when the bails came off, Wagner's entire body was past the crease, but entirely airborne, with his bat and both feet off the ground.

Wagner would have been okay if his feet had touched ground within the crease at some point before the bails came off. He had, however, not done so yet. His feet had made their final contact with the ground before reaching the crease.

According to Law 29 (batsman out of his ground), "(a) batsman shall be considered to be out of his ground unless his bat or some part of his person is grounded behind the popping crease at that end."

In October 2010, the MCC had changed the Law to rule that "if a running batsman, having grounded some part of his foot behind the popping crease, continues running further towards the wicket at that end and beyond, then any subsequent total loss of contact with the ground of both his person and his bat during his continuing forward momentum shall not be interpreted as being out of his ground." Wagner, however, had yet to ground his foot when the bails came off, and was therefore run out.

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