Sunil Narine and Anrich Nortje both saw their bats fail size checks—and neither made an impact with the bat as KKR crumbled in a chaotic defeat to Punjab

Sunil Narine and Anrich Nortje’s bats failed gauge tests in a bizarre sequence of events during Kolkata Knight Riders’ 16-run loss to Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on Tuesday—marking one of the most unusual nights of IPL 2025 so far.

The trouble began even before the first ball of KKR’s chase. As per new protocol, reserve umpire Saiyed Khalid was conducting bat checks outside the playing area. Narine, set to open the innings, was standing alongside Angkrish Raghuvanshi when his bat was slid through the measuring device.

It didn’t pass. Raghuvanshi’s bat was cleared, but Narine’s had to be flagged. After a brief exchange with the umpire, Narine went ahead with a different bat, scoring 5 off 4 balls before falling early. Earlier in the match, he had bowled a tidy three-over spell, returning 2 for 14.

Nortje’s incident caused a much more visible interruption. Making his first appearance of the season after recovering from a back injury that had sidelined him since SA20, Nortje came out to bat at the fall of the ninth wicket.

On-field umpires Mohit Krishnadas and Saidharshan Kumar checked his bat and found it non-compliant. Play was halted as substitute Rahmanullah Gurbaz sprinted out with a set of replacement bats.

One of them passed the gauge, but Nortje didn’t get to use it—Andre Russell was bowled by Harshal Patel the very next delivery, ending KKR’s innings at 95 in just 15.1 overs.

Nortje had earlier shown promise with the ball, clocking high pace and finishing with figures of 1 for 23 from three overs. But neither his return nor Narine’s economical spell could lift a side that collapsed dramatically after reaching 62 for 2 in the eighth over.

Raghuvanshi was the lone bright spot with a composed 37 off 28, while the rest of the line-up fell apart under pressure from Chahal and Jansen, who shared seven wickets between them.

According to MCC regulations adopted by the IPL, a bat’s edge cannot exceed 4 cm, the blade thickness must be under 6.7 cm, and the face width should not be more than 10.79 cm. Bat checks, once done discreetly in dressing rooms, are now a public affair. For KKR, they added a fresh layer of embarrassment to a night already lost.