The BBL match between Hobart Hurricanes and Brisbane Heat on Wednesday just added to the display of umpiring woes at the Big Bash League. The Heats lost due to the call by the third umpire (though it was probably right). It was a runout call on the last ball of the second innings this time, as Brisbane lost by one run.
Last over, seven runs needed seems like achievable but thanks to Afghan mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s nasty fifer, Brisbane Heat were nine wickets down and couldn’t afford any glitch. Boland getting the pace on Steketee- who had played some phenomenal shots earlier- and Bazley in the last over brought the equation down to two runs needed in one ball.
The Video Of The BBL Match That Went Viral
The last ball, Steketee nudged a shot that doesn’t go far enough and Ingram took a full chance at the direct hit. At first, it seemed that the bat popped up as the batter dived into the crease and the direct hit from cover found him short. The third umpire had already announced a runout in quick time.
ABSOLUTE SCENES AT THE GABBA!
A final ball direct hit by Colin Ingram, Mark Steketee’s bat is in the air and @HurricanesBBL win by ONE RUN!#BBL10 pic.twitter.com/ihINu23DE9
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 30, 2020
Only moments after the decision was made in the BBL match, did boos hit the Gabba as spectators clearly disagreed. Later it was Twitter that caught fire slamming the umpiring authorities (though wrong this time).
Earlier Hobart Hurricanes, batting first lost a clumsy D’ Arcy Short in the second delivery. His partner Ben McDermott also couldn’t manage Mujeeb. He was bowled on his eighth ball. On the other end stood the World No 1 in the format- Dawid Malan. The player kept knocking the ball into gaps as the scoreboard kept ticking.
The Englishman with wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb stitched a careful acceleration buy their partnership didn’t come a long way as Malan was got out by Mujeeb in the 12th over scoring 39 runs from 32 balls whereas Peter Handscomb got out on ball bowled by Jack Wildermuth.
What Next For The Two Teams In The Tournament?
However, with significant depth in Colin Ingram and Tim David, Hurricanes managed to go past the 150 run mark, which would still consider being below par. Mujeeb Ur Rahman picked Keemo Paul, Scott Boland and Will Parker in just a span of four balls, making the best bowling figures of the day.
Coming out to bat with 150 odd runs to chase, Brisbane Heat made the worst start they could. They were down when they lost three batsmen for eight runs on the board. Sam Heazlett, Jack Wildermuth and Tom Cooper couldn’t engage well. It was Boland and Meredith’s whose pace troubled them early on.
Later Lewis Gregory ane Max Bryant (52 runs from 38 balls) took on the proceedings. They were able to stabilize the innings. However, Keemo Paul broke the stand. After a breezy 50 runs from 31 balls from James Bazley helped the Heat reach the last over. That is where they needed seven runs and fell short. Oh, what a finish indeed!!
