It seems Australia have learned from the mistake they made in the second T20I against the West Indies when their players, including left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson, who removed the bails himself, did not appeal Alzarri Joseph’s attempted dismissal, who was clearly out. but he ultimately remained in the area after the Australian players did not appeal and, as a result, the referee did not come up to review him.
In the ongoing series that concluded the third T20I between the two teams, another such incident occurred but this time the Australian players quickly appealed.
It developed during the fourth ball of the fourth over bowled by Jason Behrendorff when top-order batsman Roston Chase wanted to complete a single after hitting the ball towards mid-off.
The ball was quickly picked up by Mitchell Marsh who bowled it straight into the stumps on the non-striker’s side to make amends, everyone in the Australia team screamed at the top of their lungs and that also led to the halfway point of the game. Outfielder Tim David laughed.
Also in the commentary box, Mark Howard was moved by the loud call from the fielders which reminded them of the second T20I incident. In reality, what happened was that Alzarri Joseph had called for a run, but he stayed well short of his ground before Spencer Johnson chased him away.
While some Australian players automatically started celebrating, the referee showed no signs of making a decision as no one appealed. It created quite a stir on social media and questions were raised about the credibility of the referee who was simply doing his job within the rules.
Article 31.7 of the ICC rule book states that “No umpire shall call out a batsman, even though he may be out under the Laws, unless appealed by a fielder. This shall not prevent a batsman who is out under any of the Laws from leaving the wicket without an appeal having been made.”
In that sense, the referee was in his place and, in order not to take any further risks, Australia appealed, but the timing was not right, as Roston Chase entered the area in time before the ball hit the leading posts.
Watch Australia’s Mistaken Amendment Appeal Video
There is no doubt whether Australia was appealing to that exhaustion 😉 #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/P8EM4DOEjn
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 13, 2024
Meanwhile, the West Indies aim to conclude their month-long tour of Australia with a win today in the third T20I, which could be their first victory in the white-ball stage. They were whitewashed 3-0 in the ODI series and have already lost the T20 series after the Australians won the first two matches in Brisbane and Adelaide.
And the visitors have done quite well in their start to victory today. After winning the toss, they asked the hosts to bowl first and after a crumbling start, West Indies have bounced back nicely thanks to substantial knocks from Roston Chase (37 off 20), Rovman Powell (21 off 14 ), Shrefane Rutherford (67 of 20), 40) and the spectacular performance of Andre Russell (71 of only 29).
That has helped the Windies set a target of 221 and now the onus is on the bowlers to save the team from suffering another white-ball whitewash.
