Kevin Pietersen and Anil Kumble lauded Australian skipper Aaron Finch for his decision to go for the Decision Review System (DRS) during a thrilling ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 match against Pakistan on Wednesday, 12th June. Finch’s call helped Australia won a thrilling encounter at Taunton.
Wahab Riaz and Sarfaraz Ahmed had almost brought Pakistan out of the neck of defeat with their stunning 64-run stand for the eighth wicket, but Australia pacer Mitchell Starc managed to break the partnership in the 45th over to turn the match in favour of the defending champions.
Starc’s delivery slightly hit the edges off Riaz’s bat and he appealed straightaway, though, the umpire had given not out, but when Finch asked his teammates, wicket-keeper Alex Carey was not unconvinced with the decision, and the captain finally decided to go with his gut feeling to ask for the review on the last second of the 15-second timer after thinking for a while.
Well, the decision came in favor of Australians as the replays showed that Riaz had nicked the ball and Pietersen and Kumble called it as the turning point of the match, as Pakistan lost their final two wickets for just two runs after that call and Finch’s side, eventually, won match by 41 runs here.
Pietersen told the official broadcasters, “When we were watching, we were like just go for the review. I was like just go for it. You have to take the review and that is what Finch did eventually even when his teammates weren’t convinced.”
While Kumble also agreed with English man, “The batsmen looked back after edging the ball and that in itself is a sign.”
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)
