BBL 2019-20: Umpire raises his finger for an LBW; ends up scratching his nose

The Big Bash League 2019-20 clash between defending Champions Melbourne Renegades and Adelaide Strikers had been an interesting one right up until the dying moments, as Strikers moved towards a well-deserved victory. However, there was one instance of controversy during the 17th over of the Renegades’ innings bowled by Rashid Khan.

Strikers captain Alex Carey won the toss and chose to bat first. Phil Salt slammed a half-century and skipper himself hit 41 runs, as Strikers raced towards a decent total. The final score was pushed to a good one when Rashid Khan scored 25 off 16 balls with 2 sixes and 2 fours, while Jonathan Wells contributed 20, as they finished with 155/6 in their 20 overs. For the opposition, Kane Richardson bagged 4/33 and Cameron Boyce took 2/18, keeping them from getting a huge score.

Poor umpiring highlight of the match

However, the tournament has been marred by below-average umpiring by the officials and something similar was seen during the Renegades’ chase of 155 runs set by Strikers at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. Rashid Khan was bowling the 17th over of the innings, and Renegades needed 46 runs in 4 overs that remained.

On the 3rd delivery, Rashid Khan trapped Webster in front of the stumps and it seems the umpire was raising his finger to give the batsman out after the bowler and keeper Carey appealed for it. Even the batsman started to walk, with the bowling team celebrating. However, at the last possible moment, the umpire reversed his decision and brought his raised finger to scratch his nose much to the amusement and dismay of the fans.

Watch the video here

Who NOSE why the umpire changed his mind on this plumb lbw ? #BBL pic.twitter.com/Gzg53838PD

— Junior (@Jarrad73232646) December 29, 2019

Replays showed that the ball would have thudded into the stumps, given that Rashid had bowled a wrong’un and it hit the batsman on his pads, but the umpire thought the bat was involved and it was given as runs. However, the mistake by umpire didn’t help Renegades much, as they ended up making 137/8 and lost the game by 18 runs.

Aaron Finch hit a fifty, while Webster, the said batsman remained unbeaten on 37. Rashid Khan, Wes Agar and Cameron Valente picked two wickets each, as Strikers went on the top of the points table with 7 points from 4 games.