MELBOURNE
Interesting scenes could be observed during England and Australia’s first Twenty20 International here at Optus Stadium in Perth.
English captain did not opt to appeal against Australia’s wicket-keeper batsman Mathew Wade as the latter had obstructed bowler Mark Wood after the ball was careened into air as Wade top edged it.
Wood ran down to catch the ball at Wade’s end but the Australian batter visibly stuck an arm to impede him.
The on-field umpires had asked Buttler whether he indented to appeal against Wade, the English captain said later, but he said he decided against it.
“They asked me if I wanted to appeal and I said ‘no’. I have only just got to Australia so I thought just carry on with the game,” the English captain said about the incident.
It is pertinent to mention here that the match was equally poised at the moment of obstruction as Australia needed 39 runs of 23 balls, but they failed to chase it later.
“It was hard because I didn’t know what I was appealing for…I could have asked some of the other boys to see if they had a better view but thought I would get on with the game,” said Buttler.
Asked whether he would appeal for a similar incident at the World Cup, he said “Maybe”.
Social media also had interesting reactions to the whole incident. Wade’s fellow country man Usman Khawaja was also “astonished” over English captain’s decision. “Can’t believe they didn’t appeal,” said Khawaja on Twitter.
The high scoring match in the end was decided by a thin margin as the hosts fell only eight runs short. Buttler himself was indulged in a record 132-run opening partnership for England with Alex Hales.
