In July 2021, Harleen Deol took one of the most extraordinary catches on the boundary in a T20I against England at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, setting social media on fire.
Four years later, in another July in Southampton, Harleen Deol was back, topping the charts of viral cricket content. But this time, it was not for her brilliance on the field. India women’s team cricketer Harleen Deol was slammed left, right and centre for her poor match awareness during the first ODI against England. It ended up costing her wicket.
Harleen was not spared on social media, nor did she get any leniency from the commentators on air. Former England batter Mark Butcher minced no words in criticising the India batter for her “sloppy” and extraordinarily poor cricket.
“She should be in comfortably,” said Butcher when the umpire went upstairs but he was left in disbelief when replays showed Harleen was run out for not grounding her feet or bat.
“That is as sloppy as it gets. Very very poor cricket indeed. Harleen Deol can barely believe but she’s only got herself to blame. That is quite extraordinary. She didn’t ground her bat, didn’t get her feet in. She should’ve been a metre behind the crease had she done either of those things. England can’t believe their luck,” Butcher said on live commentary.
It transpired in the 22nd over of India’s 259-run chase. Harleen set off for a quick single after tapping a Charlie Dean delivery towards mid-on, where Alice Davidson-Richards was standing. Unlike Harleen, Alice was extremely aware of the situation. She charged at the ball, picked it up quickly and had a shy at the stumps to knock it down.
At first glance, it appeared that Harleen had easily made her ground. The English fielders were not much excited either, but the on-field umpire felt something and decided to send it to the TV umpire.
Replays, however, painted a completely different picture. Harleen did not ground her bat; even her feet were in the air when the ball hit the stumps. She was declared run out for 27 off 44 balls.
Thankfully for Harleen, her run out did not cost India much. They clinched a four-wicket win, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. After being put in to bat, England posted 258/6, thanks to Sophia Dunkley’s 83 and Davidson Richards’ 53. Sneh Rana (2/31) and Kranti Goud (2/55) were India’s standout bowlers.
In response, Deepti Sharma anchored the chase with an unbeaten 62, supported by Jemimah Rodrigues (48) and Amanjot Kaur (20*), guiding India to victory with 10 balls to spare.