Rizwan unhappy with umpires decision during the second Test between Australia vs Pakistan at MCG. (Cricket Australia/Screengrab)The Australia vs Pakistan second Test match at the MCG was in balance before Mohammad Rizwan was given out off Pat Cummins’s delivery in a controversial way, which turned out to be the pivotal point in the game as the hosts won the match by 79 runs and sealed the series.
Chasing 318 runs, Pakistan were well in the game at 219-5 when Rizwan, batting on 35, tried to leave a short ball. The ball hit him on the lower right arm and carried to wicket-keeper Alex Carey, and the Australians appealed.
Michael Gough’s on-field umpire did not give it out, and Cummins challenged the decision and sent it upstairs. Third umpire Richard
Illingworth referred to the spike on Snicko meter as the ball passed Rizwan’s wristband, and Illingworth asked Gough to overturn his original decision of not out. Noticeably, there was no mark on the hotspot as the ball passed Rizwan.
Wicket 250 for Pat Cummins! 🎉
The third umpire decided the ball flicked Mohammad Rizwan's sweatband on the way through. #MilestoneMoment | @nrmainsurance | #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/vTuDL5DmNB
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 29, 2023
The Pakistan keeper-batter was unhappy with the decision and suggested that the ball had brushed his forearm instead of the wristband, and with the wicket, the Australian skipper picked up his 250th Test match wicket.
Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha threatened to push Pakistan towards a win. Cummins ended the 67-run partnership between the pair bizarrely and dramatically just 15 minutes before the scheduled close of play.
Cummins made all the crucial breakthroughs late in the day as the hosts bowled Pakistan out for 237 to win the Boxing Day test and extend Pakistan’s losing run in Australian trials to 16 matches.
“I got a little bit twitchy there,” Cummins said. “I felt OK, but they were batting nicely. Happy with the Rizwan wicket.” Cummins claimed the crucial wicket of his opposing captain, Shan Masood (60), before tea. Cummins took his fourth of the second innings just minutes later, dismissing Aamir Jamal (0).
Australia won the first test in Perth by 360 runs. The third test in the three-match series is scheduled to begin Jan. 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Pakistan won its last test in Australia in 1995.
With agency inputs
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