An extraordinary incident happened in the gripping fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval when England believed they dismissed premier Australia batter Steve Smith at the stroke of lunch on Day Five. But the batter was ruled not out, as England skipper Ben Stokes put down a crucial chance at leg slip.
The incident happened in the 66th over, with Smith batting on 39 when off-spinner Moeen Ali bowled a loopy delivery and the ball seemingly took the batter’s glove edge and popped into the hands of Stokes, who jumped to take a one-handed catch by fully stretching his right arm.
But the ball popped out of Stokes’ hands in a bid to land on the grass, before hitting the ground. Later, TV replays also seemed to suggest that Stokes was aware that it wasn’t a clean catch and was not in full control of the ball, but the England captain decided to go upstairs for review.
After numerous replays were seen by TV umpire Nitin Menon, Smith was ruled not out as the catch was not perceived to be clean according to law 33.3 of the MCC.
The law states, “The act of making a catch shall start from the time when the ball first comes into contact with a fielder’s person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement.”
The commentators on air also likened it to the Mitchell Starc incident of attempting to take a catch of Ben Duckett at Lord’s, with Mel Jones saying, “It was clean (catch) by Ben Stokes. And in the celebrations, the hand has come down and hit his thigh. The ball has been dislodged and it has been adjudged that he was not in control.”
Former England captain Nasser Hussain said the correct decision had been reached regarding that dropped catch. “He’s got to be in complete control. And you can’t say that, with his right leg up in the air. You could tell immediately from his reaction that he knew he’d made an error.”
“It very much reminded me of that Herschelle Gibbs moment in the 1999 World Cup, where he threw it away too early when claiming a catch,” he said on Sky Sports.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting termed it ‘incredible’. “Talk about drama. Steve Smith survives. Incredible stuff. Everyone turning up here today expected there to be more drama somewhere and it started with the early loss of wickets for Australia.”
“Then, on the stroke of lunch, this happens where Stokes takes a catch straight into the middle of his hand and then on the way down in his celebration, he slaps his right thigh and the ball drops out.”
With rain-stopping proceedings in the second session, Australia require 146 more runs to win the fifth Ashes Test and win the series 3-1, with Smith and Travis Head not out on 40 and 31 respectively.
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