Australia wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade escaped a rare dismissal in the first T20I against England as the tourists did not appeal against him for ‘obstructing the field’.
In the 17th over of Australia’s chase, Mark Wood hurried Wade with a sharp short ball, which the left-hander top-edged onto his helmet. Wood tried to go for the catch in his follow-through, but Wade put his hand out to stop the bowler from making a full attempt as he dived deep into the crease.
Soon, both Wood and England captain Jos Buttler asked the umpire on-field umpires about Wade’s gesture. The two umpires had a chat in the middle, but in the end, they didn’t go upstairs and Wade got a life. The southpaw could have been dismissed in three ways off that delivery – a catch out, or maybe the ball could have rolled towards the stumps or for obstructing the field. He escaped all.
Here’s the video:
https://twitter.com/waqasaAhmad8/status/1579075639482920961
Talking more about the match, England batted first after losing the toss. Opener Alex Hales (84 off 51) and skipper Buttler (68 off 32) added a strong 132-run partnership in just 11.2 overs. The visitors posted 208/6 on the board in their stipulated 20 overs. Nathan Ellis was the pick of the bowlers for Australia with three wickets for 20.
While chasing a mammoth total, Australian opener David Warner smashed a 44-ball and was well supported by Mitchell Marsh (36 off 26), Marcus Stoinis (35 off 15) till his dismissal in the 17th over. Wade (21 off 15) kept the home team in the match till the last over with 16 runs to go. In the end, the Aussies finished on 200/9 and lost by eight runs.
