The England cricket team started the 3-match T20I series against Australia in the best possible manner by defeating the hosts by 8 runs in the first T20I which was played at Optus Stadium, Perth. However, the match has also been marred by a controversy which got created due to an incident that took place in the 17th over of the Aussie innings.
The 17th over was bowled by Mark Wood and the Aussie batter Matthew Wade tried to hit him for a boundary but ended up getting a top edge and then Wade made an attempt to stop Mark Wood from taking the catch by using his hand. Matthew Wade could have been given out for obstructing the field but the English skipper Jos Buttler chose not to appeal as he stated that his complete focus was on the ball and he was not able to see what happened between Mark Wood and Matthew Wade.
The English skipper said this after the match, “I was looking at the ball the whole time, so I wasn’t sure what happened. They asked if I wanted to appeal, but I thought we are here for a long time in Australia so would be a risky one to go for so early in the trip”.
Barmy Army, group of the English cricket fans, was not happy with this decision as it took to Twitter and wrote, “Blatant obstructing of the field. Not like the Aussies to behave unfairly… HOW IS THAT NOT OUT?????”
HOW IS THAT NOT OUT?????
— England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) October 9, 2022
Bharat Army, group of the Indian cricket fans, didn’t miss the chance of having some fun at the expense of Barmy Army and it reacted with, “No worries, it is the spirit of the game that matters the most lads”.
No worries, it is the spirit of the game that matters the most lads 😉 https://t.co/hAPY5eEyuT
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) October 9, 2022
The “spirit of the game” was a reference to the incident which happened in the match between England women and Indian women cricket teams. If you remember in the last match of the 3-match ODI series, Deepti Sharma dismissed the English cricketer Charlie Dean while the latter was on the non-striker end.
Deepti Sharma mankaded Charlie Dean when the English batter was trying to take undue advantage by leaving the crease even before the ball was bowled by the bowler. Though mankad has been recognized as run out now by the ICC, there were many who stated that this was against the spirit of the game and Barmy Army was also one of them.
As far as the match is concerned, England was put to bat first by the Aussies who won the toss and the visitors got a great start as the openers Jos Buttler (68 runs, 32 balls, 8 fours, 4 sixes) and Alex Hales (84 runs, 51 balls, 12 fours & 3 sixes) produced a partnership of 132 runs for the first wicket. England posted a big total of 208/6 on the score board in its stipulated 20 overs and in response, the Aussies lost Cameron Green (1 run) quite early but David Warner played a blistering knock of 73 runs for which he played 44 balls (8 fours & 2 sixes). Nevertheless, the Aussies fell short by 8 runs and now the visitors are leading by 1-0.
Bharat Army took a dig at the Barmy Army by making this tweet and it was certainly a good one! What do you say?
