In a thrilling finish to the Delhi Capitals (DC) vs. Mumbai Indians (MI) match in Vadodara, three controversial run-out decisions dominated the closing stages. Third umpire Gayathri Venugopalan ruled all three not out, despite the LED stumps illuminating at pivotal moments. Former captain Mithali Raj criticized two decisions—Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav—arguing they should have gone in MI’s favor. Pandey’s bat was on the line as the stumps lit up, while Yadav’s bat appeared above the crease. DC ultimately secured a last-ball victory, but MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur expressed her dissatisfaction with the decisions.
“When you dive and your bat first contacts the ground [inside the crease] and then it [bounces up] due to the full stretch dive, it’s not out. [In the case of] Radha Yadav, we can see the bat’s blade is raised. It isn’t touching any part of the ground [inside] the crease [when the LED stumps light up]. This indicates that she is out. The bat was never within the crease. That’s a clear out call.”
According to Appendix D of the WPL 2025 playing conditions, regarding what constitutes the wicket being broken with LED stumps: “Where LED wickets are implemented, the moment at which the wicket has been dislodged shall be considered the first frame in which the LED lights illuminate, and subsequent frames show the bail permanently removed from the top of the stumps.”
The incident involving Pandey occurred on the very first ball of her innings, during the 18th over of the Capitals’ chase. After stepping across the stumps and missing her shot, she attempted to sneak a bye but was signaled to return by Niki Prasad. A direct hit was made at the striker’s end, and after the batters capitalized on the deflection for a bye, the run-out appeal was sent to the TV umpire. Replays indicated that Pandey’s bat was on the line when the LED stumps initially lit up. However, the TV umpire advanced to the next frame, basing her decision on that moment when the bails clearly detached, by which time Pandey’s bat was already within the crease.
Just two balls later, another mix-up ensued resulting in Radha diving to make her ground at the striker’s end while Prasad was also caught mid-pitch. The throw went to the striker’s end; had it been aimed at the non-striker’s end, Prasad would likely have fallen short. Wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia broke the stumps as Radha dived with the bat face upward, and no portion of the bat seemed to touch the ground over the crease line when the LED stumps lit up. Yet again, the umpire seemed to ignore this and based her ruling on when the bails visibly lifted from their groove, by which time Radha was safe. She was declared not out and hit a six on the next delivery, reducing the equation to 10 runs needed off 6 balls.
With two runs required off the final two deliveries, Prasad was caught out at deep midwicket, bringing Arundhati Reddy to face the last ball. She managed to chip the ball over cover, barely evading Harmanpreet who was running backwards. As the batters returned for the second run—the winning run—Harmanpreet delivered a flat throw to Bhatia, who broke the wicket as Reddy dived full stretch. Once again, the frame when the LED stumps first illuminated showed Reddy’s bat on the line, but the third umpire examined the later frames and concluded, “the batter has made her ground before the wicket is fully dislodged.” The DC players celebrated, and the MI players appeared to accept the decision without protest.