Pink ball Test a big success but DRS proved to be a disgrace

 

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By Kersi Meher-Homji

I had my doubts about the historic Day ”“ Night pink ball Test in Adelaide which concluded on Sunday.

Was it a gimmick to pull more spectators in? Will the pink ball in night as hurled by fast bowlers be visible to the batsmen who are not used to this? Will there be a tragedy to eclipse the fatal killing of Phillip Hughes exactly a year ago?

Happily it all ended well with the home team ”“ Australia ”“ defeating New Zealand by three wickets and winning the Trans-Tasman Trophy 2-0.

Well, it did pull in more spectators, about 120,000 in three days. This is very heartening. Test cricket needs more following especially in countries like India, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka where very few attend Test matches.

In India it is all T20 and One-Day Internationals and Test matches are attended by only a few thousand every day. So a day-night Test in India will make a much needed change for the better.

Let’s go back to the day-night Adelaide Test experiment last week. The pink ball passed the scrutiny of all cricket experts as no one got injured.

And the Test itself was a thriller. Needing 187 runs to win, Australia reached the target with only three wickets in hand and with two days to spare.

But for the Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell, adding valuable 46 runs for the fifth wicket New Zealand could have sneaked in with a win.

The Test was soured for the visitors by a controversial DRS (Decision Review System) which will be discussed for a long time.

In reply to New Zealand’s first innings score of 202 Australia was 8 down for 116. Tailender Nathan Lyon came in and soon it appeared that he edged the ball and was caught. But the umpire gave him not out.

The New Zealanders went for a review and the TV umpire Nigel Llong (from England) after viewing from many different angles for six minutes gave him not out.

If given out Australia would have been 9 for 117, still 85 runs behind with only an injured Mitchell Starc to come. But the last two wickets added 107 runs. This is huge for a low scoring match.

The visitors are very much cut up with the TV umpire’s decision ”“ especially as they lost by only three wickets.

This only proves that DRS is not fail-proof. Exactly what the Indian Cricket Board has been saying for years and are not allowing DRS in international matches.

 

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