The World Cup 2023 so far has been an absolutely incredible one. The fans have got to witness some of the most eye catching incidents one after the other in almost every second match until now in the tournament. The tournament has been of great surprise for many people on several ocassions.
Amidst several such incidents, one took place during the recent match between Australia and South Africa. Steve Smith who is considered to be Australia’s talisman in ODI cricket has to walk back after having been initially adjudged not out by the umpire as the things were made by a bizarre review during the display of the ball tracking.
Australia after being asked to chase in Lucknow by South Africa were punished throughout the first innings by the Proteas as they were provided with a huge target of 312. The Aussies didn’t have a good start to their big run chase as both the openers were dismissed early on inside the first 10 overs. Steve Smith who was at the crease with Marnus Labuschangne tried to provide some bit of stability to the innings.
The no.3 batsman was looking in fine touch as he had smashed four sublime boundaries to start getting the Australian innings back on track. Just when things started to settle a bit for the batsman, Kagiso Rabada came up with a fine delivery that hit Smith’s left pad just above the knee roll.
The fielding side came up with an appeal which was turned down by the umpire Joel Wilson much to everyone’s expectations. Smith also was convinced that the ball was going down the leg side well over the leg stump.
However what followed was absolutely shock for both the batter and his team including the umpire. South Africa opted for a review and the ball tracking showed that the ball was crashing into the top of the leg stump. Smith threw his head up in the air in disgust while Rabada gave a huge roar of ecstacy along with his team mates.
To talk about the game, Australia were bundled out for 177 with Marnus Labuschangne (46) being the highest scorer for his side. South Africa registered a massive 134 runs victory to move to the top of the table with 4 points and a net run rate of +2.360. Australia slipped to the 9th spot with no points to their name so far besides a net run rate of -1.846.