The T20 World cup clash between Australia and Afghanistan saw a massive umpiring error in the first innings of the match. Fans of the sport were quick to notice that the 4th over of the Australian innings which was bowled by Afghanistan pacer Naveen Ul-Haq had just five balls with David Warner and Mitchell Marsh both taking strike.
On the first two deliveries, the duo took one single each before Marsh smashed the third delivery for a boundary. The duo ran three runs on the fourth delivery before Warner played a dot ball on the last as the umpires declared the over was finished. Neither umpire, the bowler, or the two batters noticed that there was one ball still remaining in the over.
Ultimately, Australia ended up putting a total of 168 on the board. Warner played a knock of 25 in 18 balls while Marsh made a 30-ball 45. Glenn Maxwell returned to form in style and gave Australia a big finish. The star all-rounder stayed unbeaten at the crease for a knock of 54 in 32 balls. Naveen bowled a memorable spell that saw him concede just 21 runs in four overs and take three vital wickets.
The match is a vital one for Australia as a defeat will all but knock them out of the tournament. A win also will not be enough as they are unlikely to overtake England’s Net Run Rate (NRR) and they will have to hope that Sri Lanka defeat the Jos Buttler-led side on Saturday (November 5) at the SCG. New Zealand have confirmed their place in the knockout stages.
Talking about the umpiring blunder, it was at the Adelaide Oval itself that a similar incident took place 10 years ago in an ODI between India and Sri Lanka. Lasith Malinga’s 30th over had one ball less and it ended up having a big effect on the result as the game ended in a tie.
