Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis were left fuming after a couple of dubious umpiring decisions marred Australia’s unsuccessful run chase in Lucknow on Thursday.
Chasing a 312-run target for victory against South Africa, the Australians raced towards 2-50 in the tenth over when Proteas seamers Kagiso Rabada nipped a delivery into Smith’s pads.
South African captain Temba Bavuma called for a review after umpire Joel Wilson refused to raise the finger, and Smith was left in utter disbelief when Hawkeye showed the ball would have crashed into leg stump.
Wilson also looked bemused when he was asked to overturn his on-field decision, with Smith reluctantly trudging off for 19 (16), repeatedly looking up at replays on the venue’s big screen.
“You can shake your head as many times as you want, but it’s crashing into the stumps,” former Australian batter Matthew Hayden said on commentary.
South African legend Shaun Pollock continued: “The South Africans reviewed it more in hope than 100 per cent conviction, and there’s two perplexed Australian batters at the crease.”
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Later in the 18th over of Australia’s run chase, Stoinis tickled a delivery from Rabada down the leg side, with Proteas wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock claiming a tumbling catch to his left.
South Africa called for another review after Wilson was once again unmoved, with third umpire Richard Kettleborough overturning the on-field decision when replays showed the ball had indeed scraped Stoinis’ glove.
“His bottom hand is connected to his top hand,” Kettleborough explained.
Stoinis protested the decision with the on-field officials, pointing out his hand wasn’t connected to the bat, before eventually marching off for 5 (4), shaking his head as he returned to the sheds.
Former Australian captain Aaron Finch called it a “strange decision” on commentary, while England legend Nasser Hussain labelled it “a really odd one”.
“It looked like his bottom hand was off the handle, the third umpire said his bottom hand was attached to the top hand,” Hussain explained.
Finch continued: “If you look at that split screen on the left, the bottom hand is a long way from that top hand.”
Australia was ultimately bowled out for 177 in 40.5 overs, suffering a 134-run defeat to the Proteas.
The Australians will next face Sri Lanka at the same venue on Monday, with the first ball scheduled for 7.30pm AEDT.
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