He’s definitely among the best batters in the world but Steve Smith has no shortage of controversies on his cricket resume. Today was Day 2 of the 2nd Test match of Ashes 2023 at Lord’s and the batting maestro found himself in the middle of yet another controversial decision, when he took a catch to dismiss Joe Root in the final session of play.
Australia adopted the short ball technique against England because the home batsmen were going after everything. And they kept falling prey to the short ball, including the former captain Root, who is one of the main wickets for the home side. Root was batting on 10 in 18 balls when Mitchell Starc bowled him a short one and the batsman couldn’t help but attempt a hit.
Was Steve Smith’s catch OUT?
Root attempted the pull shot and immediately yelled “ohhhh nooo” because he knew that wasn’t timed well. What followed was a running catch which ended with a forward diving finish by Smith. Root however wasn’t going anywhere and the umpires decided to send it upstairs to check how clean the catch was, which was then also shown on the big screens on the ground.
When we saw the replays, it seemed to be pretty conclusive and evident that the ball had touched the ground as Smith was trying to complete the catch. However, upon checking, the third umpire decided to render it as OUT which sparked a lot of debates on social media, as we were convinced that it should’ve been given as NOT OUT.
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While Smith covered a lot of ground to get to the ball and juggled it between his hands and chest, it was a very good catch at the end of the day. However, the question will remain as to whether or not the ball touched the ground as he made the dive. Root was initially dismissed by Cameron Green on 1 but it was deemed a no ball, only for his innings to come to an end a few deliveries later.
Regardless, the decision was made and Root had to trudge off the field, at a time when England lost three quick wickets. He fell for 10 and England were in a spot of bother, only for Ben Stokes and Harry Brook to steady the ship for the 5th wicket partnership. Read Scoops ran a poll to ask Twitter users what they thought about that catch and you can vote here as well:
Was that a clean catch by Steve Smith?#Ashes2023 #Ashes23
— Read Scoops (@ReadScoops) June 29, 2023
Smith was also brought out to bowl the final over of the day to try and make something happen. However, the batsmen survived and England ended Day 2 on 278/4, trailing by 138 runs and setting up the remaining three days of the match pretty well. The partnership between them is now 56 runs going into Stumps and they’ll be looking to build on it early on Day 3 of this Ashes 2023 match.
For more similar sports news and updates from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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