Matthew Wade obstructed Mark Wood from taking a catch.
With the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 less than a week away, Australia faced England in the first match of the 3-T20I series on Sunday (October 9).
The match turned out to be a high-scoring one with England posting 208/6 in the first innings. But an incident that transpired in the second inning was the biggest talking point of the match.
Wade attempted to hit Mark Wood for a boundary in the 17th over of the second innings, but could only manage a top edge. As Wood tried to take the catch, Wade put his hand out in a bid to prevent the bowler.
Surprisingly, England captain Jos Buttler refused to appeal when the umpires asked of him.
"I was looking at the ball the whole time, so I wasn't sure what happened. They asked if I wanted to appeal, but I thought we are here for a long time in Australia so would be a risky one to go for so early in the trip," Buttler was quoted as saying after the match.
This irked the England team fan club "Barmy Army," who resorted to social media to question why Wade was not given out on the grounds of obstruction of the field.
"Blatant obstructing of the field. Not like the Aussies to behave unfairly. HOW IS THAT NOT OUT?????" they wrote in a series of tweets on social media.
The Indian team fan club "Bharat Army" swiftly took to social media to mock their English rivals by referencing their opinions on the recent Deepti Sharma-Charlotte Dean run-out controversy and the "spirit of cricket" argument.
"No worries, it is the spirit of the game that matters the most lads," they wrote.
Here’s the tweet:
The visitors though managed to win the first T20I by just 8 runs. Alex Hales was adjudged the Player of the Match award for his stellar 54-ball 81.
The 2nd T20I will be played on Wednesday (October 12) at Manuka Oval.
(INDIA TODAY INPUTS)