SA20 | Twitter confused as bizarre rule denies Tom Abell seemingly clean superhuman six save

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Agile boundary riders are amongst the few that can exhilaratingly deny the assumed inevitable but as Tom Abell learned, the odds are stacked against them. He flew across the boundary and suspended mid-air to help stop a six but a brush of the rope before the launch rendered his effort worthless.

Durban's Super Giants rode on the back of explosive half-centuries from JJ Smuts and Nicholas Pooran to come good on their batting prowess and post a daunting target of 226 for Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Gqeberha on Saturday. Smuts turned out to be particularly dangerous as he smashed 75 runs at nearly two-a-ball and cleared the rope seven times, albeit the latest of those maximums was nearly ruled out courtesy an ungodly effort.

Smuts took advantage of a slower ball down leg from Daniel Worrall in the 17th over to powerfully heave it over deep square leg and the ball seemed to be clearing the ropes easily but Tom Abell had other plans. The 27-year-old waited till the last moment before thrusting himself diagonally backwards into the air and snatching at the ball with his fully extended right hand. He showed immaculate technique by timely folding his legs when floating to gain air-time and flicked the Kookaburra back into play timely before hitting the ground with his foot. Both Smuts and Pooran had assumed the six an inevitability and only managed to casually trot for a single with a look of disbelief on their face after witnessing Abell's heroics, as was the case for the entire crowd at St. George's Park. The replays all but confirmed at first Abell had accomplished his task albeit repeated replays by the third-umpire instead of announcing a decision sowed some seeds of doubt in the spectators' minds.

As it turned out, while leaping Abell had mistakenly stood on the boundary hoarding and as per the laws of the game, the fielder needs to be completely within the playing area to deem any efforts to save a boundary valid. The 29-year-old was evidently distraught when the umpire signalled six and a collective boo echoed around the stadium, accurately mirroring the sentiments of Twitterati.    

Unbelievable effort

Unfortunate decision

Thats crazy

Great effort

Nicely done

Incredible effort

One of the greatest save

What was that

Just robbed off

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