UP Warriorz Women’s (UPW) captain Alyssa Healy was stunned when her teammate Chamari Athapaththu was controversially dismissed leg before wicket (lbw) against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL 2024. The incident occurred during the eighth over of the UPW run chase. Georgia Wareham bowled a tossed-up ball that dropped in front of Athapaththu, who missed the sweep shot and was smacked on the front leg.

The on-field umpire ruled it not out before RCBW captain Smriti Mandhana disputed the judgment. The ball tracking revealed that no bat was involved, and the ball would have hit the stumps. The ball was pitched on the leg, and Hawkeye confirmed that it would strike the stump. Wareham bowled a leg-spinner, and the ball-tracking technology stunned Athapaththu and Healy. According to the ball tracking system, the ball was pitched in line and would have hit the middle of the stump.

Athapaththu couldn’t believe what she had seen, but she was forced to walk back to the pavilion. What perplexed the Warriorz was that the ball, after being pitched on the leg, travelled in the reverse direction of a traditional leg spinner, striking the middle stump. The DRS showed that the ball was a googly (and not a leg spinner) and was hitting the stumps. This left Athapaththu and Healy furious and the Australian was seen shouting at the camera ‘No Way, No Way’ at the top of her voice.

After this incident in the 7th over, UP lost a series of wickets at quick intervals and eventually lost the match by 23 runs. If not for Deepti Sharma’s rearguard action (33 off 22), UP would not have come close to their 178-run total. RCB returned to winning ways after back-to-back losses as the Smriti Mandhana-led side won their last home-leg match against UP Warriorz by 23 runs. Smriti Mandhana top-scored with 80, while Ellyse Perry contributed 58 as Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a mammoth target of 198 for 3 in 20 overs against UP Warriorz.