PAK vs ENG | Twitter reacts to Zahid Mahmood's lone stud nearly saving him in bizarrely close stumping call
Cricket is a game of fine margins and at no point is the fact more evident than during potential stumping and run-out incidents. Zahid Mahmood would know that all too well after he was undone by Ollie Pope taking off the bails just moments after a single stud of his was resting inside the crease.
Pakistan fought back valiantly in the opening Test against England at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, leaving the encounter hanging in the balance at Lunch on day four. The visitors had tallied a mammoth total of 657 on the back of a record four centurions, scoring at a stunning run rate of 6.50, but failed to capitalize on it with their bowling largely due to the flat track on offer. Both host openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam ul Haq reached triple digits before skipper Babar Azam added his name to the list with a ton of his own.
At one stage, the hosts looked like they could even surpass the opposition's score, only to be undone by a brilliant Will Jacks taking six wickets in his debut match. The off-spinner's most spectacular moment came in the 154th over of the second innings when he got rid of fellow debutant Zahid Mahmood which was incidentally his fifth wicket. Jacks delivered a fullish delivery outside off stump, almost at yorker length, to which Mahmood absurdly attempted a reverse sweep.
However, the tailender was beaten all ends up as the ball floated into Ollie Pope's hand who was quick to notice Mahmood was not inside his crease. The wicket-keeper quickly took off the bails showing great instincts while the batter made minimal effort to drag his foot inside the line in time. Initial replays seemed to show the foot was on the line albeit it seemed too close to call correctly. Things became even more interesting when the broadcasters switched to the stump cam.
The unique viewpoint revealed a single stud of Mahmood's shoe was resting on the ground for a brief moment after he had played the shot, nearly saving him a walk back to the pavilion. However, the stud eventually took off a little to which Pope responded by quickly disturbing the stumps. The third umpire took quite his time with the replays, as they dragged on for nearly five minutes before he was satisfied enough to declare the batsman out much to the Twitterati's amusement.
Need to look at!
— MINI BUS 2022 (@minibus2022) December 4, 2022
Spikey!
— MINI BUS 2022 (@minibus2022) December 4, 2022
Nothing behind
Zahid Mahmood goes for a reverse sweep and misses,there's a stumping appeal as he's out of the crease.
— cricdu (@cric_du) December 4, 2022
Nothing behind the popping crease and Will Jacks has a five wicket haul on a debut on a pitch that's doing absolutely nothing#EngvsPak #PAKvENG
Thought different
I thought Zahid Mahmood had a stud behind the line. Never mind. Many congrats to Will Jacks, the first England spinner to take five wickets on debut since Adil Rashid in 2016. #PAKvENG
— Auni Akhter (@AuniAkhter) December 4, 2022
Boring test
One of the most boring test matches ever, Marais Erasmus isn't on field umpire but sitting as third ump yet he makes his presence felt to his beloved Pakistani audience. Gives the decision against Zahid Mahmood controversially
— FAR.AS next door (@ibneHasan4) December 4, 2022
Five on debut
That's five on debut for Will Jacks, as Zahid Mahmood misses a reverse sweep and is stumped by a fraction. Pakistan 576-9.
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) December 4, 2022
Poor out!
Zahid Mahmood got out 😭
— Abdullah (@iamabdullah0912) December 4, 2022
Stumped
Zahid Mahmood is adjudged to be short of his crease - he's stumped.#PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/U6qayQ2OEx
— Grassroots Cricket (@grassrootscric) December 4, 2022
Off spinner day
Good day to be an off-spinner. Will jacks and Nath Lyon bag a 6-fer each. #WTC23
— Ayush Verma (@av_0822) December 4, 2022
Tremendous
Take a bow, bud. Tremendous effort by Will Jacks with the ball on debut.
— Jeet Vachharajani🏏 (@Jeetv27) December 4, 2022
Jacks has the potential to succeed in all the 3 formats of the game, espc. as a batter. His bowling is an added advantage.👏