Watch: There was a moment of tension in the second South Africa-England ODI, with Jos Buttler and Rassie van der Dussen exchanging words after the England captain felt he was impeded in an attempt to take a catch.
The incident came in the 19th over of the Proteas’ attempted chase of 343 to win. Adil Rashid was bowling to van der Dussen, who was on 21 at the time. The South Africa No.3 attempted to work the ball into the leg-side, but only managed to get an edge into his pad with the ball ballooning up.
Buttler tried to run from behind the stumps to claim the catch, but found his progress stalled by van der Dussen, who remained where he stood following his stroke.
As Buttler returned to his position, he and van der Dussen became involved in a discussion over the incident, with the Englishman pushing the South African lightly in the chest. Umpire Marais Erasmus could be heard telling the players to “calm down” towards the end of their discussion.
Buttler did not appeal for an ‘Obstructing the field’ dismissal, something he also declined to do in a recent T20I against Australia. It is unlikely any appeal would have been successful, with the umpires needing to deem any obstruction as “wilful”.
There were also echoes of another incident involving Buttler, when he was reprimanded for swearing at Vernon Philander during a Test match in South Africa in early 2020.
A transcript of the Buttler-van der Dussen exchange is below:
Buttler: Just relax.
Van der Dussen: I’m just standing bro.
Buttler: I’m trying to get to the ball.
Van der Dussen: Sure.
Buttler: What’s your problem, Rassie? It’s not all about you all the time.
Van der Dussen: Yeah, it’s about you.
Buttler: I’m just trying to get to the ball.
Erasmus: OK, calm down.
Buttler (to van der Dussen): What do you want me to do?
The exchange can be viewed below (UK only):
Jos Buttler and Rassie van der Dussen share a heated exchange 😳 pic.twitter.com/mwcPzkzCwy
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) January 29, 2023
