Pakistan captain Shan Masood was bemused by his controversial lbw dismissal on the fourth and final day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa. He opined the ball-tracking technology, Hawkeye, which overturned his on-field not out decision was at fault.
The incident happened in the 84th over of Pakistan’s second innings. Masood, batting on 145 after putting on a record opening stand of 205 with Babar Azam while following on, was struck on his back pad by a Kwena Maphaka back-of-length delivery which kept low. On-field umpire Nitin Menon ruled not out but the hosts decided to take the decision upstairs.
Hawkeye showed that the ball was clipping the off stump, resulting in the decision being reversed. Masood, however, felt the trajectory the ball-tracking technology showed could have been for a different ball than the one that got him out.
"It's simple. It was an outswinger. If you see the ball that I was beaten by, it jagged away a long way. I was beaten on the outside edge, and it was shown as an inswinger. I was baffled by that to be very honest," Masood stated during the post-match press conference.
Masood: I just felt it was a different picture
Following the decision, Masood was visibly frustrated as he stood at this crease in disbelief before walking back to the pavilion in anger. Masood’s big score was crucial to Pakistan’s fightback, where they racked up 478 after being asked to follow on. The effort eventually went in vain as the hosts chased down 58 with 10 wickets remaining, sweeping the series 2-0.
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Masood’s dismissal was not the only contentious decision off Maphaka’s bowling. Before lunch, Saud Shakeel survived an lbw appeal when the ball appeared to be angling down the leg stump, resulting in Menon deeming it as not out. However, replays showed that the ball would have hit the leg stump had South Africa reviewed.
Masood called for the administrators to check the accuracy of the ball-tracking technology.
"With the naked eye, you could see it felt like it was outside the line as well. I just felt it was a different picture. I didn't get hit where Hawkeye was showing it to be hit. I was hit more on the outside of the leg than the inside; it shows it on the inside. That's not an inswinger. I was beaten by an outswinger and that's what the umpire thought as well, and that's all I can say to that."
"It's up to the administrators to see if that's a fair decision or not, but I certainly felt that technology didn't show the trajectory of how that ball was," Masood concluded.
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