Watch: England romped to a 227-run win in the opening Test of their four-match series against India, but a bizarre incident, which had little bearing on the result of the match, ended up briefly delaying their victory march.
England’s win took them to the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings, and the side has now won 11 Tests on the bounce under Joe Root’s captaincy. Eight deliveries before they walked off the field with a win under their belt, England’s premature celebration was cut short after a seemingly straightforward dismissal turned out to be a dead ball.
Off the fifth ball of the 57th over, with India on 187-9, Jofra Archer bowled a short one at Ishant Sharma, the India No.10, who tried to parry the delivery away but only got a faint ricochet off the glove, the ball falling dead next to the stumps after a couple of bounces. Soon, however, it was observed that the stumps lay disturbed, possibly an act of the batsman stepping onto his own stumps while playing the stroke.
The England fielders stood around trying to figure out what exactly happened, with the two umpires engaging in a discussion even as they consulted it with the third umpire. Replays showed that the stumps weren’t properly aligned before the ball was delivered, and one of the bails fell off as soon as Ishant attempted his stroke, without any contact from the batsman. It’s possible to hear the bails falling on stump mic just before Ishant plays his shot.
After the third umpire confirmed that it indeed was a dead ball, and the players went back to their respective spots. Not long after, Archer finally claimed the last wicket to complete a memorable win for the visiting side.
You can watch the incident here:
