Everyone present at the MCG on the second day of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan were utterly shocked when the TV umpire committed a shocking howler.
The incident happened when Pakistan opener Azhar Ali, batting on 93, was inching towards a well-deserved century but had a mighty scare when umpire Richard Illingworth declared him run-out while the replays clearly showed the batsman was well in his crease when the ball dislodged the bails.
The Pakistan vice-captain was at the non-striker’s end when his partner Asad Shafiq hit a straight drive which after being deflected off Jackson Bird’s hand hit the stumps. On-field umpire S Ravi went to the TV umpire but everyone was shell-shocked when Illingworth gave the batsman out. As expected, the MCG crowd started cheering before it turned into boos when the umpire realized his mistake and changed his decision.
Here is a clip of that incident:
What a rollercoaster! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/rrW0wyjZzH
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 27, 2016
Meanwhile, the visitors are well-placed in the match after the end of the second day. For the second day in a row, the match was intervened by rain but Azhar Ali did not lose his focus and scored a fine ton to keep his team in fray for a good innings total. At stumps, Misbah-ul-Haq’s men were 310 for 6. Azhar Ali (139*) and Mohammad Amir (28*) will resume batting on the third day.