In case you thought Australia’s innings went barely faster than typical on Friday night, you had been appropriate.
The hosts solely confronted 119 deliveries in its must-win T20 World Cup match towards Afghanistan at Adelaide Oval as a result of an umpiring error throughout the Powerplay.
The fourth over, delivered by Pakistan seamer Naveen-ul-Haq, wrapped up in simply 5 balls, with the umpires prematurely switching ends.
It’s crunch time on the T20 World Cup and you’ll catch each match stay and ad-free in play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Begin your free trial now >
On the fourth ball of the over, Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh slapped a slower supply into vacant house at lengthy on — he and veteran opener David Warner scampered via for 2 earlier than sprinting again for a 3rd following an overthrow.
Nevertheless, as an alternative of a “3” showing on the printed graphics, a “2” popped up alongside a further “3” within the fifth ball.
Naveen-ul-Haq’s fifth supply was a dot ball, and the over was known as — not one of the gamers seemingly seen.
Australia’s rating was later rectified on the printed graphics, however the reigning champions by no means acquired that supply again.
5-ball overs are widespread in village cricket however a rarity on the worldwide stage — notably in a World Cup — and the blunder didn’t go unnoticed.
The umpiring mistake fortunately didn’t impression the ultimate consequence, with Australia claiming a four-run victory over Afghanistan to maintain its T20 World Cup dream alive — at the very least for one more 24 hours.
If Sri Lanka defeats England on the SCG on Saturday night, they’re via to the semi-finals. If England wins, their event is over.
Australia finds itself in such a precarious scenario due to its woeful web run charge, which took a battering after final month’s huge loss to New Zealand.
Regardless of recording comfy wins over Sri Lanka and Eire, their web run charge by no means really recovered, presently sitting at -0.173.
“We put ourselves in that scenario, been attempting to chase a little bit of run charge but it surely hasn’t gone our approach,” Australian captain Matthew Wade mentioned throughout the post-match presentation.
“We had been a bit sluggish out of the blocks this event, hopefully it doesn’t value us.”
