England captain Jos Buttler said that one of the reasons he didn’t go for an appeal when Matthew Wade obstructed Mark Wood from attempting to take a catch was that he thought they will be in Australia for a long time and taking such a risk would’ve been too early for them.
Buttler and co. defeated Australia in the first T20I by 8 runs while defending a target of 209 runs. Alex Hales with 84 and Buttler with 68 in his return match after injury, helped England to 208/6 in 20 overs.
In reply, David Warner hammered 73, while Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis added 36 and 35 respectively. Matthew Wade was their last hope and he made 21 in 15 balls. In the 17th over, Wade top-edged a short ball from Mark Wood onto his helmet which went in the air.
Wood tried to get to the ball for a catch, but Wade in his attempt to get back in the crease used his left arm to obstruct the England bowler from reaching the ball in time. On the incident, Buttler said that he was asked if he wanted to appeal against the left-handed Wade.
"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.
Buttler, however, said that he may not mind appealing if a similar incident happened during the World Cup. "Maybe, yeah," he added.
Australia finished on 200/9 and lost by 8 runs. The second T20I is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, October 12 at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
(Cricket Australia inputs)
