Narine and Nortje's bats fail the gauge test in PBKS vs KKR game
Narine's bat was checked before the start of KKR's chase, while Nortje's bat was checked when he walked out to bat at No. 11
ESPNcricinfo staff
16-Apr-2025
Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) Sunil Narine and Anrich Nortje's bats failed the gauge test during the IPL 2025 game against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur on Tuesday.
The Narine incident came first. Before KKR's unsuccessful chase of PBKS' 111, the bats of some of the KKR batters were checked by reserve umpire Saiyed Khalid outside the playing arena. Narine, the KKR opener, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi were standing together, and the thickest part of Narine's bat wouldn't pass through the gauge.
Narine appeared to have a chat on the matter with Khalid, who also checked Raghuvanshi's bat, which passed the test.
Narine, who had earlier returned 2 for 14 in his three overs, hit one four in his four-ball 5 in the chase. Raghuvanshi was KKR's highest scorer with 37 from 28 balls.
After KKR's chase went downhill from a solid 62 for 2 in the eighth over, Nortje was out to bat as the last man, but the bat he went out with failed the test carried out by the on-field umpires Mohit Krishnadas and Saidharshan Kumar, according to TV commentators.
The Nortje incident took place at the start of the 16th over of KKR's innings. The game was paused as substitute Rahmanullah Gurbaz came out carrying spare bats for Nortje. The replacement bat passed the test, but Nortje did not get to use it as Andre Russell was bowled immediately after.
This was Nortje's first match of IPL 2025 as he made a much-awaited return from the back injury that he had suffered during the SA20. With the ball, he returned figures of 1 for 23 from his three overs.
In the past, bat checks were carried out inside the dressing room but on Sunday, during the Rajasthan Royals (RR) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) game and the Delhi Capitals (DC) vs Mumbai Indians (MI) game, the checks were being carried out on the field of play. According to the IPL playing conditions, the width of the bat face should not exceed 10.8cm, 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 4.0cm. The length of the bat should not exceed 96.52cm.