Australia were headed for a big finish in the match in Hobart when the incident happened. Having been 160-5 at the end of the 16th over, Tim David and Matthew Wade had accelerated, with two sixes coming off the 18th over to take the hosts to 190-5 at the start of the penultimate over of the innings, for which Joseph was brought back on to bowl.

Wade took a single off Joseph’s first delivery to bring David on strike. Taking advantage of a low full toss, David smacked the second ball for a straight six down the ground and into the stands. From the his third ball however, Joseph could well have had a breakthrough.

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David attempted to whack another full toss into the leg side for another maximum. However, he hit the ball higher up on the bat than intended, splicing it high in the air out into the deep. There were two fielders on the boundary on the leg side, Shai Hope was behind square with a second fielder in front. Both started to run in as the ball flew towards them, but hesitated when they each saw the other going for the catch. Such was their hesitation that the ball fell to the ground in front of them without either getting to within several metres of it.

Having turned to watch the catch from the end of his follow through halfway down the pitch, Joseph let out a shout of frustration and exclaimed with his arms when he saw the catch go down. He followed up with an intense stare at the two fielders before turning to slowly walk back to his mark.

Australia finished their innings on 213-7 after Andre Russell struck twice in consecutive balls in the final over.

Watch: Alzarri Joseph stares down fielders after dropped catch

If looks could kill…

Alzarri Joseph was NOT happy with this fielding effort #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/1gMN00SLbX

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 9, 2024