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Australia felt they were robbed of a wicket as the third umpire decided to give the decision in the batsman’s favour when Mitchell Starc caught Ben Duckett late on Day 4 of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in a critical decision going into the final day. Duckett had just completed his fifty and was looking really good as he followed up his 98-run knock in the first innings.
Duckett tried to chase Cameron Green’s bouncer, however, he toe-ended it to fine-leg and Mitchell Starc ran to his left and completed a well-judged catch before. Starc was ecstatic as he took a good catch of a set batter. However, the umpires decided to send it upstairs and the third umpire Marais Erasmus decided to overturn it and gave it in the batter’s favour as Starc had clearly grassed the ball even if he had caught it completely.
The decision expectedly invited a huge uproar from fans and former cricketers alike as Starc had completed the catch when the ball was still a few inches away from the ground. The ball touched the ground only when he was completing his dive.
Cricket’s law-making body Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) clarified the decision saying that it was the correct call made by the umpire since the fielder was not in control of his movement as the law states that the catch is completed only when the ball is in complete control.
“In relation to the below incident, Law 33.3 clearly states that a catch is only completed when the fielder has “complete control over the ball and his/her own movement,” MCC said in a statement issued on Twitter.
“The ball cannot touch the ground before then. In this particular incident, Mitchell Starc was still sliding as the ball rubbed the ground, therefore he was not in control of his movement, the MCC further said.
The decision could prove to be key given that Duckett was batting on 50 and has already stitched an unbeaten partnership of 69 runs with skipper Ben Stokes as England look to chase 371 runs target to level the series.
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