The law that settled a bizarre mid-pitch collision run-out in the CPL

Shanaka, playing for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots against Jamaica Kingsmen in the 10th match of CPL 2026, drove the ball towards the cover point boundary in the ninth over bowled by Hassan Khan. Halfway through their second run, the Sri Lanka all-rounder collided with his batting partner, Kevin Wickham, leaving both of them stranded in the middle of the pitch.

Both the batters fell on the ground as Hassan Khan dislodged the bails at the non-striker’s end. However, since both the batters lay beside each other, it was difficult to determine whether it was Shanaka or Wickham who was dismissed. The decision was sent to the third umpire, and eventually, it was Shanaka who had to make the walk back to the pavilion. 

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As per MCC law 38.4 that determines which batter is dismissed in a run-out: “the batter out in the circumstances is the one whose ground is at the end where the wicket is fairly broken.”

Additionally, clause 30.2.3, which decides which is a batter's ground, states: “If there is no batter in either ground, then each ground belongs to whichever batter is nearer to it, or, if the batters are level, to whichever batter was nearer to it immediately prior to their drawing level.”

In this scenario, Shanaka was declared as the batter dismissed because the bails were dislodged at the non-striker’s end - which was nearer to him before the two batters drew level. If the bails at the striker’s end would have been dislodged, Wickham would have had to make the walk back. 

Wickham, who was batting on 15 at the time of Shanaka’s dismissal, added another 22 runs to his tally to finish with 37 off 34 deliveries, eventually being dismissed in the 17th over as the Patriots fell short of Kingsmen's total by 51 runs. Keemo Paul had scored a crucial 36-ball 65 in the first innings after his team went down to 54-4, and also picked up three wickets in exchange of 30 runs. 

This was the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots' second defeat in three matches and they remained at the bottom of the table, while the Kingsmen rose to the second spot with second win in five games. 

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