Spirit of Cricket? New Zealand decline to run single on overthrow
Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra refused taking an overthrow during the India-New Zealand match today (October 22) at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.
India won the toss and elected to field first against New Zealand in Dharamsala. New Zealand lost their openers early and were in trouble at one stage with the score reading 19-2.
That is when Ravindra and Mitchell got together to stitch a 159-run third-wicket partnership that not only rescued the New Zealand innings but also took them to a more than competitive total of 273 in 50 overs.
Ravindra registered his third fifty-plus score of the tournament in the process, scoring 75 off 87 balls. He was lucky early in his innings when he was dropped at point by Ravindra Jadeja at the score of 12, but made the best of his luck to play another classy knock.
Mitchell, on the other hand, carried on to score his fifth ODI hundred and was only dismissed in the last over as Mohammed Shami picked a five-for in his return.
Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra refused to take an overthrow during the IND-NZ game in Dharamsala
During their partnership, Ravindra and Mitchell made an interesting decision when they declined to take a potential overthrow. In the 24th over of the innings, bowled by Jadeja, Ravindra cut a length ball to sweeper cover where Suryakumar Yadav was stationed. He did well to stop the ball and restrict the batters to two but a wild throw meant New Zealand had an easy opportunity to take a third on the overthrow.
Ravindra and Mitchell considered it for a brief while as they ran for the third, but changed their minds mid-way as they returned back to their respective ends having just about crossed each other in the middle of the pitch. It’s not exactly clear why they chose to refuse the overthrow since the ball had not deflected off any player.
The act received a lot of reaction on social media, with mostly people praising the New Zealand batters for playing in the “Spirit of Cricket”, but there were a few contrary opinions as well which mentioned that they missed an easy opportunity for an extra run.
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