Steve Smith was left completely dumbstruck after a DRS review resulted in a rather unusual LBW dismissal during the Cricket World Cup 2023 match between Australia and South Africa in Lucknow on Thursday. A delivery from Kagiso Rabada struck Smith on the pads as he tried to shuffle across the stumps and to the naked eye, it looked like the ball was missing the leg stump. However, South Africa went for the review and the replay showed that the ball was actually hitting the stumps. There was some confusion about the decision as the ball tracker showed the end result directly and not the journey of the ball resulting in Smith being quite unhappy with the whole process. Even the on-field umpire Joel Wilson looked surprised at the third umpire overturning his not-out decision.
Quinton de Kock hit his second successive century at the Cricket World Cup on Thursday as South Africa sent five-time champions Australia crashing to a 134-run defeat.
After the Proteas had made 311-7, Australia lost six wickets with just 70 on the board and then focused solely on attempting to limit the damage to their net run-rate.
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They were eventually dismissed for 177 with 55 balls to spare.
For South Africa, it was a second win in two games while Australia have lost both of their matches.
“I’d be really greedy if I said there were areas to improve, a near-perfect game with the bat, and with the ball,” said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins admitted his team had been “well off the mark”.
He added: “Not much needs to be said tonight, everyone’s hurting.”
Australia, who lost by six wickets to India in their opener, saw five catches dropped when South Africa batted.
(With AFP inputs)
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