Australia ended the second day of the fifth Ashes Test with a 12-run lead which they might or might not be happy with as Steve Smith stood tall for the visitors, not for the first time at the Oval against England. Smith played a well-compiled knock fo 71 runs which could have been much shorter had the luck not been on his side and the bails had fallen just a few milliseconds before.
The incident took place in the 78th over of the innings when Smith tucked in a short Chris Woakes delivery towards mid-wicket and called in for a quick double. However, he stumbled while turning and it caused a slight delay in him returning back as Smith had to put in a desperate dive. The wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow had gathered the ball cleanly and disturbed the stumps when Smith was out of the crease after a brilliant throw from a substitute fielder. However, the bail came out of the groove a few frames later and by then the batter had made his ground.
Smith had started walking after watching the first replay but after taking much time the third umpire Nitin Menon decided to give the decision in the favour of the batter as the point of the bail coming out of its groove is counted and Smith was in by then.
As soon as 'Not Out' was flashed on the big screen, the Oval echoed with boos but ultimately the right decision was made. The fans, experts and even the veteran Indian all-rounder R Ashwin too hailed the umpire Menon for a great call.
Here are some of the reactions:
Smith was batting on 45 then and would have hoped to go big. However, after adding just 26 runs more, Smith played a rash shot trying to get some quick runs and was dismissed by Woakes. Todd Murphy and skipper Pat Cummins with a quick 49-run stand helped their side get a lead. Australia will be happy that they got the lead but will be disappointed with the middle-order collapse where they lost 5 wickets for just 70 runs, especially when the conditions for batting improved throughout the day will be the best on Day 3 and 4.
