Posted by “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” said Daniel Norcross on BBC commentary. “The throw’s come in at the non-striker’s end and there is dawdleage.” It’s hard to improve on that assessment.
What was so remarkable about this dismissal is that it felt like the textbook, “yadda yadda yadda… and there’s no run.”
Sri Lanka’s Hasini Perera pushed the ball into the off side and it was clear there was no run. Perera shouted loudly and clearly to Achini Kulasuriya at the non-striker’s end, who heard her and understood, at which point she turned round and calmly strolled back, having taken the usual couple of steps down the pitch, just in case there had been a run.
Meanwhile, the ball bobbled tamely towards Kate Cross, who ambled towards it, casually picked it up, glanced at the stumps at the non-striker’s end and then just absolutely frigging nailed the ball into them.
This next image is precisely one moment later. Behold the raw emotion! See England celebrate with wild abandon!
Replays for the benefit of the third umpire (and everyone else) revealed that Kulasuriya had been guilty of not even considering the possibility that she might be about to be run out.
What we love about this whole passage of play is how quickly yet visibly the scenario changed. Watching Cross’s movements in replays, you can see her transition from dutiful fulfilment of a routine obligation to fucking wanging the stumps down over the course of, what, a nanosecond?
It’s almost like you can see the idea forming in her head as her arm goes back to throw and then the decision is being made over the course of her arm’s movement. It isn’t really until her follow-through that she truly seems to have fully made her mind up about the course of action that she has in fact already taken.
Top stuff. Kate Cross is currently averaging one comedy run-out a fortnight.
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Any thoughts on proceedings at Edgbaston today? Legal? Spirit of the game? Complete nonsense from where I’m looking (Glasgow). But then the locals here generally view all cricket as nonsense.
Nothing new, is it? Back in the age of three-day county games, results were manufactured all the time.
And while I’m at it, uncovered pitches, my granny’s pinny, buffet bowling, etc and so on.
Luckily the Set seem pretty safe this season. I don’t know how I’d feel if I were in the position of Kent or the Middle and got relegated in the face of a NHants win in those circumstances though
I don’t see what possible motivation the Youbears had to offer up such a generous scenario, other than shits n giggles.
Great chase though, including a hat-trick and an unbroken 9th wicket stand of 52 after a setup involving 8 overs of filth from the keeper. Ridiculous rating 9/10 – very ridiculous indeed.
The prize money for coming third rather than fourth or fourth rather than fifth is surely motivating factor enough for teams to try to manufacture possible wins from rain-affected draws.
The ECB is clearly trying to encourage the “play for wins not draws” mentality by reducing the draw points this year from 8 to 5. I’m in favour of all that.
Lancashire, it seems to me, are doing their best to confound this new policy by snatching draws from the jaws of victory with reckless-lack-of-abandon.
As for the brace of “did you see” pieces, in my case the answer is no. I have seen remarkably little in the past week or so…and the little I do see is usually just before or just after the exciting bits. My cunningly timed 19:00 zoom on Sunday being a case in point. Who expected a rain-delayed match that dat?