VIDEO | Nature betrays Steve Smith as hurl of wind gives him hit-wicket scare
We have seen many weird things happening to Steve Smith on a cricket field but today’s MCG incident triumphed all that to create a funny confusion. He lost his balance while facing a Haris Rauf short ball but a hurl of wind took the bails off the groove, ensuing a hit-wicket confusion in the middle.
After defying the laws of physics with his bat movement and of course, body movement, the master of weird things, Steve Smith, was due for one “taste of his own medicine” incident. It almost came to fruition in the BBL game between Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today when he was unsure of the things happening in the middle after ducking a fiery Haris Rauf bouncer.
On the penultimate ball of the 8th over, Rauf, who returned from national duty, bowled a short delivery to Smith and the former Aussie skipper was completely taken aback by the delivery. Trying to fend it off, he got away from the line of the delivery but it was not as easy it seemed.
The imbalanced movement resulted in the Sydney Sixer batsman falling in the direction of the stumps and was close to having direct contact with the woodwork. As the light flashed, Melbourne Stars started celebrating, thinking it was a hit-wicket. They were not wrong too because for us, watching it on TV, it also seemed like the furniture had been disturbed owing to Smith falling over it. How else would the stumps light up then?
But as the replays confirmed, it was indeed the Melbourne wind that disturbed the dynamics, with Smith being inches away from the stumps. As if the dismissal needed a validation, within minutes from the incident, the business end umpire in the IND-NZ game had to call a dead ball after Westpac wind took bails out of the groove when Shardul Thakur was on his run-up.
Hit wicket? Don't think so! 🙊
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 31, 2020
The wind has just had a go at getting Steve Smith out! 💨
A @KFCAustralia Bucket Moment | #BBL09 pic.twitter.com/saGREjWJmO