3 instances when no-balls have hurt the Indian team

#2 India vs West Indies, 2nd Semifinal ICC WT20 2016, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

It was a World Cup semi-final at home and the hosts, riding on pristine batting from their superstar Virat Kohli, had everything going for them to achieve their second successive Finals berth at the World T20 2016. West Indies, in reply to the hosts 192-5, had their backs firmly against the wall when they lost their opener Chris Gayle in the first seven balls of the run chase.

A target of 193 wouldn't have worried Darren Sammy in the break, but seven balls into the chase, as the skipper was in jitters. West Indies were 19-2 when two of their most unheralded batsmen in their power-packed lineup, Johnson Charles, and Lendl Simmons came together at the crease. They started accumulating runs, securing one boundary in every over from the second to the fourteenth.

India was wavering, not because their bowlers couldn't fathom a way to get Simmons (82) out but because every time they did that, the bowler's front foot didn't have anything behind the dreaded line. Simmons got a reprieve twice, first when Ravichandran Ashwin got him caught at the third man, only to realize he has bowled a massive no-ball, which for a spinner is a crime and secondly when Hardik Pandya had him caught at extra-cover before realsiing that his front foot had strayed as well.

On a pitch as flat as the one in Wankhede and with viscous dew around, the two no balls eventually proved to be the difference in the end, as Simmons (82 not out off 51 balls) ably supported by Johnson Charles and Andre Russel, steered the Windies home with a plethora of wickets at their disposal.

Result: West Indies won by 7 wickets.