India was awarded five penalty runs during its Women’s ODI World Cup against Australia in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, during the 29th over of the innings.

Annabel Sutherland’s slower ball beat the attempted slog sweep by Pratika Rawal before foxing Alyssa Healy behind the stumps. The ball then ricocheted off the helmet before trickling to deep fine leg.

According to 28.3.2 of the MCC rule book, the umpire awards five penalty runs to the batting side if the ball strikes a helmet belonging to the fielding side, which has been placed on the ground.

“Any runs completed by the batters before the ball strikes the protective helmet shall be scored, together with the run in progress if the batters had already crossed at the instant of the ball striking the protective helmet,” the clause adds.

In this case, the batters did not cross before the ball hit the helmet, and therefore no further runs were awarded to the batting side.

A 155-run opening partnership between Pratika and Smriti Mandhana helped India get a perfect start against the Aussies, against who the team has a negative head-to-head record.

Published on Oct 12, 2025