Ball not dead, bails knocked off - Why was Mohammad Rizwan not out hit-wicket?
South Africa had an appeal turned down after the Pakistan batter brought day three to an unusual close. What do the Laws say?
Danyal Rasool
22-Oct-2025 • 3 hrs ago
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam walk off the field at stumps • AFP/Getty Images
There was so much that happened on the third day in Rawalpindi that it was easy to miss the odd circumstances of its end. Off the final ball of a day South Africa thoroughly dominated, Pakistan batter Mohammad Rizwan drove Keshav Maharaj to cover. There wasn't a run on, and so he turned around, and, in one deliberate unbroken motion, tapped the base stump with his bat, knocking off the bails.
There appeared no indication he believed he had done anything to get him in trouble, but South Africa wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne threw his hands up in appeal immediately, believing Rizwan was out hit wicket. The umpire hadn't yet called stumps, and fielder who had collected the drive hadn't yet thrown the ball back to the wicketkeeper. Thus, the ball was not yet dead.
However, umpire Sharfuddoula at the bowling end almost immediately waved off the appeals with a smile, and square-leg umpire Chris Brown backed him up. ESPNcricinfo understands the umpires did not directly explain to the South Africans why they had ruled Rizwan not out.
Conventionally, it is the umpires who take the bails off at stumps, with the bails at the non-striker's end usually removed first owing to the umpire's proximity to them. Batters do, on occasion, take the bails off - usually with their hands rather than bats - though it is almost always done after the ball is dead and the umpires have called stumps. That none of those criteria were met led to South Africa believing their appeal might be legitimate.
The Laws of the game, though, appear to side with Rizwan, and the umpires' judgment. Law 35.1 states that a batter can only be deemed out hit wicket after the bowler has entered their delivery stride
- in the course of any action taken by them in preparing to receive or in receiving a delivery
- in setting off for the first run immediately after playing or playing at the ball
- if no attempt is made to play the ball, in setting off for the first run
- in lawfully making a second or further stroke for the purpose of guarding their wicket
None of those criteria were met by Rizwan's actions, and it remains unclear how committed South Africa were to the appeal. In the moments after, it appeared South Africa did not seem especially aggrieved anyway, with allrounder Senuran Muthusamy downplaying the incident at his press conference, saying he was fielding too far away and was unaware of what happened.
South Africa finished the day with strong hopes of levelling the series, with Pakistan leading by 23 runs at stumps with six wickets in hand.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000