Cricket can be a game of fine lines, but England fans were irked that Moeen Ali was judged on the wrong side of a bulging one when the all-rounder was stumped on Day 4 of the series-opening Ashes test yesterday.
Battling with Jonny Bairstow to push his team to a respectable total, Moeen’s back foot strayed forward as he played and missed at a ball from spinner Nathan Lyon, with wicketkeeper Tim Paine sharply whipping off the bails.
The decision was referred upstairs and after lengthy deliberation using an array of angles, the third umpire Chris Gaffaney of New Zealand gave Moeen out for 40, with no clear evidence that the player’s foot was behind the line.
Photo: AFP
While it appeared a marginal decision, there was no benefit of the doubt given and English fans at the Gabba greeted the dismissal with jeers as their team slumped to 155-6.
England then lost their last wickets for 40 runs to be out for 195 before Australia openers David Warner and Cameron Bancroft pushed their team to 114 without loss, and needing only 56 runs for victory.
England’s “Barmy Army” and a host of media pundits queried the integrity of the line on social media, as it did appear to be slightly wider at the middle of the pitch than at the edges.
The decision was quickly dubbed “Shoddy-line,” “Bulge-gate” and other epithets, but Moeen was loath to question it.
“If I was bowling, I would want it out,” the bearded all-rounder said. “I guess it depends what angle you look at it from. You’ve got to respect the umpire’s call and what he saw. You’ve just got to move on. I thought I was alright personally, but the replay did look very tight.”
INDIA VS SRI LANKA
AFP, NAGPUR, India
Skipper Virat Kohli stood tall with a double century as India cornered Sri Lanka with an imposing first innings lead of 405 yesterday on Day 3 of the second Test.
India declared their innings on 610-6 after Rohit Sharma completed his hundred as they seek to go one up in the three-match series.
Sharma made 102 with wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, on two, for company in Nagpur.
However, the day belonged to Kohli, who hit a majestic 213 before falling to off-spinner Dilruwan Perera as he walked back to a standing ovation from a raucous home crowd.
It was the star batsman’s fifth 200-plus score in his 62nd Test.
Kohli and Rohit put on 173 runs for the fifth wicket to pulverize a deflated Sri Lanka attack that sent down 176.1 overs in about six sessions of play.
It was Kohli’s 183-run third-wicket stand with his overnight partner Cheteshwar Pujara that took the steam out of the opposition attack.
While Pujara was bowled by paceman Dasun Shanaka for 143 in the first session, Kohli continued to score quick runs in his team’s expected bid to bat just once in the match.
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