Kolkata Knight Riders’ batter Finn Allen became the centre of a major talking point during the IPL 2026 clash against Lucknow Super Giants in Kolkata on Thursday, after his dismissal triggered debate over whether the boundary catch should have been ruled a six.
Allen’s dismissal sparks boundary-line controversy
- In the second over of KKR’s innings, Allen faced Prince Yadav and played a thick top-edge.
- The ball raced towards the third-man boundary area, where Digvesh Rathi stationed himself close to the ropes.
- Rathi took the catch near the boundary line, with some viewers and cricket followers believing his shoes made contact with the boundary rope and/or the line after the completion of the catch.
- Despite how close it appeared, the on-field umpires moved quickly and did not extend the check, leaving the decision to stand.
- The call was widely discussed on social media, with fans arguing that the ruling should have been reviewed more thoroughly.
One prominent former batter, Shreevats Goswami, said he was sure the fielder’s foot touched the advertising board at the time of the catch and suggested it should have been treated as a six. He wrote that it “clearly looked like a six,” adding that the foot appeared to make contact with the board and was visibly moving.
There was also a separate wave of criticism aimed at the officiating, with multiple posts claiming the umpire did not check properly and arguing that the matter should have been sent upstairs for a third-umpire review.
As the game progressed, Lucknow Super Giants remained unchanged in their selection, while KKR made one alteration. Sunil Narine was brought into the playing XI in place of the injured Varun Chakravarthy.
Lucknow won the toss and chose to bowl first against Kolkata.
Teams
- Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav.
- Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Navdeep Saini, Kartik Tyagi.
