When a nerve-wracking Test series finale is at stake, even the simple things seem complicated. The same happened on the third day of the ongoing Cape Town Test between South Africa and India. The players and on-field umpires could not believe the action taken after Proteas captain Dean Elgar avoided the lbw decision, courtesy of the DRS.
It all happened on the fourth ball of the 21st over of the hosts’ innings when Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Elgar with a straight delivery. Umpire Marais Erasmus raised his finger and declared him out, but Elgar opted to review. Hawkeye showed that the ball was in line but was passing over the leg-stump, causing the third umpire to overturn the decision on the field.
The DRS’ decision seemed more technical rather than an umpiring or transmission error, but the result left the Indian team furious. Even umpire Erasmus expressed his shock and was heard saying “it’s impossible” at the stump mic. At the end of the day’s play, former South Africa player Shaun Pollock said that India ‘let the game go a little far’ after the controversial decision involving the Proteas captain.
Speaking in his post-day review with Cricbuzz, Pollock said the visiting team “lost the plot for a while” after the not-out decision. Talking about Kohli being emotional on the field, the pacer said, “Virat is an emotional captain and it is often a real positive for the team,” he said. “I think he got a little upset. He thought he had got his second wicket.”
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He also mentioned that Elgar’s wicket made it all the more emotional. “They didn’t see it coming and it was a tough pill for them to swallow at that point of time. After that, there was a period of three or four overs, when the feelings were high,” he added.
Luckily, India dismissed Elgar on the last ball of the day with the help of DRS. The decision depended on the snicko meter which showed that Elgar dismissed wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant off Jasprit Bumrah. By the end of the third day, the home team scored 101 runs in 29.4 overs for the loss of two wickets. They need 111 runs to win now, while Team India needs to take eight wickets to register a historic win in South Africa.
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