AUS vs SA: At the Sydney Cricket Ground on Day 4 of the third Test, Proteas captain Dean Elgar did not seem comfortable since Australia bowlers were all over the opening from the beginning. Josh Hazlewood, a fast bowler, struggled with him in the middle but ultimately defeated him with an edge on the final ball of his second over. The on-field umpires handed the judgement to the third umpire with a faint signal of “not-out” after Steve Smith in the slips made an excellent catch but wasn’t satisfied about the same.
Steve Smith’s valiant effort goes in vain
The SCG crowd erupted in thunderous applause when the first playback revealed that Smith had his hands on the ball and was able to touch it. To the dismay of the spectators in the stadium, more replays ultimately revealed that the 33-year-hand old’s gradually rolled back and the ball ultimately touched the ground.
On the commendatory panel of AUS vs SA, Ricky Ponting said “(The ball) has actually carried into his hand on the full. That has not bounced before it hit his hand, but you heard the third umpire say ‘his fingers have split’. So, they’re trying to check with his fingers being split if any part of that ball has actually hit the grass after it’s gone into his hand on the full.”
Continuing further, he said “The ball has not bounced before it’s got to him; it’s gone into his hands on the full. And now the judgement that the third umpire has to make now … does the ball then go down onto the ground and up? It’s very, very hard to tell, even from the angle that we’ve got.”
Simon Taufel explains the decision
Legendary umpire Simon Taufel, who was keeping tabs on the situation, later provided an explanation of Richard Kettleborough’s judgment. The 51-year-old acknowledged that it was a very tough choice and said that the muted signal may have had some influence. He remarked, “A very difficult one again for the third umpire to go through. You can see the ball goes into the hand and it can not touch the ground through that process, but we must remember that the soft signal process has been tweaked a little bit by the ICC. This decision was entirely in the hands of the third umpire and not the on-field umpires.”
The 35-year-old Elgar was dismissed by the same bowler on 15 runs, failing to score big despite receiving a lifeline.
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