Matthew Wade survives after ball hits stumps but bails don't dislodge
Cricket is a game of skill and not luck. But ask anyone who has ever played cricket in any level and they will tell you that luck plays a major role in the game. While it might not define the way you go about the game, it certainly does help if you have luck on your side when you step onto the field.
And Matthew Wade certainly had lady luck shining on him brightly as he survived a close call off the bowling of Trent Boult in the 44th over of their innings. After trying unsuccessfully to divert a ball onto the leg side, the Australian wicketkeeper got an inside edge, which dropped near his feet and then rolled back onto the stumps.
Despite his best efforts to stop the ball from hitting the stumps, the ball did just that. As luck would have it though, despite the leg stump moving a considerable distance behind where it usually is, the bails simply refused to budge and stayed on.
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It was something that certainly caught everyone by surprise, including the commentators, who simply couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Soon after that, there was wry smile from both wicketkeeper BJ Watling and Trent Boult as both wondered how a batsman could be this lucky.
“I can’t believe that the stump moved that much and the bail didn’t come off, How lucky is that”, said Mark Nicholas on commentary, visibly surprised by the events that had transpired in the fifth ball of the 44th over of the Australian innings.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke, who was also doing commentary for the game wondered whether that was due to the difference in the bails that were used in Tests and limited-overs that resulted in the bails not flinching from their position.
“It’s amazing how they have changed,” Michael Clarke said on commentary. “The thickness and the weight is definitely a bit heavier these days than the old wooden bail that you see in a Test match. But they are a little bit of a different shape as well, so they sit in the stump a little deeper than the bails used in Tests.”
Wade couldn’t make the most of his luck though as he got dismissed three balls later for just 14. However, David Warner’s century meant Australia finished on 264/8, which the opener believes is more than enough for them to claim a 3-0 series win.
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