CRICKET
WATCH: On field umpire corrects blunder to stay with third umpire’s call
In a funny incident, an on-field umpire gave a wrong decision despite the decision of the third umpire. The incident happened during the ODI match between Australia and South Africa’s women’s teams. She initially declared it as out. Ashleigh Gardner was the bowler who delivered an off-spin to Sane Luus who was on strike. At the other end, Marizzane Kapp was batting.
South Africa batted first and was 109/3 when the incident took place. It was the 24th over of the match. Claire Polosak was the on-field umpire who gave the decision. The ball pitched outside off, and the impact was on outside off as well. As a result, the on-field umpire gave it ‘Not out’. The fielding side wished to take it upstairs. Hence, the 3rd umpire came in to picture.
Watch the video of the incident here:
The umpire gives out even when the 3rd umpire said Not Out. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/m3s5Z3UEQ6
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 7, 2024
In the replays, the 3rd umpire did not find any mistake. The front foot of the bowler was alright. The 3rd umpire then checked where the ball pitched. It was outside off and hence, the impact was further checked, which turned out to be outside off as well. Hence, there was no need for further checking if the ball went on to hit the stumps or not.
Claire Polosak corrects her mistake and stays with the original decision
The 3rd umpire confirmed it to be not out as well and conveyed the same to the on-field umpire. Polosak was glad that her decision was upheld by the third umpire as well. As she had to signal the fact that the original call would stay, Claire decided not to reverse the decision. But instead of signalling it was not out, Claire declared it out initially. It had the players of Australia surprised as well.
Realizing her mistake, Claire apologized to everyone and stayed with the original decision. It was one of those unique and rare moments which took place in cricket. It almost scared the batters of South Africa. The fans online have a funny take on the incident. The commentators were surprised by the decision and called it a never seen before moment in cricket.