On the very first day of the 2018/19 Big Bash League (2018/19 BBL) has been struck with the controversy. A questionable third umpire decision made the chaos on the field.
The 2018/19 BBL started with the innovative bat flip toss between Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba (Brisbane). After Adelaide Strikers sent Brisbane to bat first, Brisbane was losing their wickets in regular intervals and was battling on 92/6 when that controversy struck on the game.
It was the second ball of the 13th over of the innings where the wicketkeeper-batsman Jimmy Peirson was facing the Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan and James Pattinson just joined at the non-striker end after Ben Cutting was dismissed on the previous ball. Going to take a close single, there was a slight hesitation and then Pattinson made a dive with the bat to cross the batting end crease while the opposition wicketkeeper also hit the stumps after grabbing that ball from the fielder’s throw.
The leg-umpire immediately went for the third umpire to take the decision. Though Pattinson’s bat crossed the crease before the stumps were broken, there was still a little bit of confusion whether the bat was on the air or not. However, many believe that this should be given a definite not out after there was no strong evidence to award that run-out dismissal.
However, the third umpire decided to go in the favour of the fielding side and gave the out signal. Everyone was stunned with that decision and Pattinson, who was smiling in a shock, was walking off the field after the on-field umpires confirmed that decision.
However, soon, that incident took another interesting turn as the Adelaide Strikers’ decided to withdraw that appeal after watching the replay. Pattinson came back to bat again and the play resumed shortly.
Talking about that incident, the Strikers captain Colin Ingram told on Fox Sports coverage during the innings break, “It was a unique scenario. I ended up chatting with Benny Laughlin and he said, ‘what’s the option on withdrawing the appeal?’ The initial idea came from him, the good sport he is.
“We could all clearly see it wasn’t out. You could look like an idiot on TV if it isn’t (out) but you’ve got to back what we saw and our boys were really happy with that. We just wanted to get on with the game.”
What's your verdict?
Re-live the Pattinson run-out controversy here 👉 https://t.co/f1qk4yzH1X#BringTheHeat #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/ie7qwaGqin
— Brisbane Heat (@HeatBBL) December 19, 2018
Strikers won that game comfortably by five wickets with five balls remaining. Heat was bundled out for 146 runs in 19.4 overs while Strikers chased down the target in 19.1 overs after losing five wickets. Opener Alex Carey’s 70 runs led the Strikers to the comfortable chasing, but the leg-spinner Rashid Khan won the Player of The Match award for his brilliant bowling 4-0-19-3.
Some Twitter reactions on that third-umpire decision:
https://twitter.com/block_kellie/status/1075318708849934337?s=20
3rd umpire at the gabba #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/WL23YzKdsM
— Cricketmemes_ (@Cricketmemes2) December 19, 2018
Your 3rd umpire tonight #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/b5popkt3fV
— Matt (@MatthewGWW) December 19, 2018
Third umpire in the #BBL08 having a blinder. That was deadset the worst decision I’ve ever seen in professional cricket in my 40 years. pic.twitter.com/A6tTotUaak
— Frank (@GregAFC) December 19, 2018
OUT… NOT OUT! OUT… NOT OUT???
A controversial decision here… We're all confused with Patto's run-out!#BringTheHeat #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/OWglv6HSLO
— Brisbane Heat (@HeatBBL) December 19, 2018
The third umpire right now… #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/oEcwhaAfFj
— Alexandra Price (@AlexandraPrice5) December 19, 2018
What replay did the 3rd umpire see of that run out? #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/3zGttyhWTf
— Cricketmemes_ (@Cricketmemes2) December 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/N_Martin8/status/1075318427470839809?s=20
