BBL: Bowler Lands Delivery Outside The Pitch, Batsman Still Hits It. Watch Video
BBL: Jhye Richardson, in an attempt to outsmart the batsman, ended up bowling wide of the pitch but Sam Harper was determined to get bat on ball.
Highlights
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Sam Harper shuffled across the stumps to try and ramp the ball
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Jhye Richardson followed the batsman and tried to bowl it wide and slow
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The ball ended up landing outside the pitch
The Big Bash League (BBL) rarely fails to entertain, with matches throwing up thrilling finishes, flashes of individual brilliance and on occasion, moments that are just bizarre. One such instance came up in the match between the Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades on Saturday. The Renegades were in the fourth over of their chase and seamer Jhye Richardson was bowling to opener Sam Harper. As Richardson ran in, Harper tried to shuffle across the stumps to ramp it, as he had unsuccessfully tried in the previous delivery. Richardson saw the batsman move and decided to follow him and bowl it wide. It was good observation and awareness on the bowler's part, except he went too wide.
Richardson's slower delivery landed on the grass outside the pitch, and continued to go away from the batsman. Harper, not willing to give up on the delivery, made a last-minute alteration to his plan as well, stretching to cut the ball, but only managed to get it to the fielder at backward point.
Watch the incident here:
Doesn't even matter if it lands on the cut stuff. Sam Harper just wants to get bat on ball!
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 21, 2019
A @KFCAustralia Bucket Moment | #BBL09 pic.twitter.com/RpCd2eB5Fr
Twitter users were left confused about the legality of the delivery, questioning why it was not given a no-ball.
"That should've been a no ball, right?" one user asked.
"No ball?" another enquired.
"We used to give it a no ball,did they??" wrote another.
According to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), who are the custodians of the laws that govern cricket, if a delivery pitches wholly or partially off the pitch before it reaches the line of the striker's wicket, it is a no-ball.
The match ended in a win for Perth Scorchers, as the Renegades fell 11 runs short of the Scorchers' 197. The match also saw a stunning catch in the deep by Chris Jordan.