Courtesy: BCCI/IPL
During a low-scoring thriller in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 last night, the bats of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Anrich Nortje from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) failed the gauge test conducted by umpires while they were playing against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Maharaja Yadavindra International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. Following the aforementioned gauge tests were conducted on the bats of Narine and Nortje, PBKS defeated KKR by 16 runs, defending the lowest-ever total of 111 runs in the history of the IPL.
In a report published in ESPNcricinfo, the gauge test on Sunil Narine’s bat happened before KKR’s pursuit of the 112-run target against PBKS, and it was done by the reserve umpire Saiyed Khalid outside the playing field. When Narine’s bat didn’t go through the gauge, he had a chat with the reserve umpire before he went to the crease with the new bat, but he could only score five runs in four balls before Marco Jansen castled him.
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After Andre Russell’s bat failed the gauge test, Anrich Nortje walked out to the middle at the start of the 16th over, with KKR needing 17 runs to win the match, when the on-field umpires Mohit Krishandas and Saidharshan Kumar conducted the gauge test on his bat. Following that, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the substitute fielder, came charging out of the KKR dugout with other bats in hand, and once the replacement bat passed the gauge test, Anrich Nortje was allowed to carry on.
PBKS jumped into top four of IPL 2025 points table with win over KKR
Unfortunately for Anrich Nortje and KKR, Andre Russell got castled on the first ball of the new over by Marco Jansen, finishing the match in style for PBKS, winning it in front of a rocking atmosphere inside the Maharaja Yadavindra International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. With this sensational win, PBKS have once again found themselves in the top four on the points table in the IPL 2025 as the tournament heads to the halfway stage in the league season.
Moreover, as per the rules of the IPL, the gauge test is there to ensure that “the width of the bat face should not exceed 10.79cm, the thickness of the blade shouldn't be more than 6.7cm, and the width of the edge of the bat cannot be more than 4cm. The length of the bat should not exceed 96.4cm”.
