The semi-final of Under-19 World Cup 2026 is being played between India and Afghanistan. There came a moment in the match when Afghanistan got 5 runs as penalty due to the mistake of the Indian team. The thing to note is that the bowler had got the ball dotted, but keeper Abhigyan Kundu could not stop the ball properly and the opposing team got five runs as penalty.
Let us tell you that this incident happened on the last ball of the 17th over when bowler Deepesh Devendran made the ball dot the Afghan batsman Faisal Shinozada. There was not much bounce in the ball, due to which keeper Abhigyan could not stop the ball properly and the ball hit his helmet kept on the ground.
After this the ball went towards four also
The matter was not limited to just the ball hitting the helmet, but after that the ball also started moving towards the boundary line. Although the ball was dead after hitting the helmet, the umpire still signaled it for a four. As soon as the umpire gave a four, the commentator also said that the umpire might have to withdraw this decision. Ultimately only five penalty runs were given. In this way, due to one mistake, Team India suffered a loss of 5 runs.
Under which rule were penalty runs awarded?
So let us tell you that according to section 28.3.2 of MCC, the body that makes the rules of cricket, if the ball hits the helmet of the fielding team kept on the field, then the umpire gives five penalty runs to the batting team.
Battle to reach the finals
By winning the semi-finals, both the teams would like to make it to the finals. Let us tell you that the Under-19 teams of India and Afghanistan are facing each other at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. This is the second semi-final. The England team has won the first semi-final. The team that wins the second semi-final will face England in the final on Friday (06 February). The title match will also be played at Harare Sports Club only. Now it will be interesting to see who faces England in the final.
