The tactics Australian batsman Steve Smith's
spectacular and highly unusual catch to
dismiss Pakistan's batsman Fawad Alam during
Sunday's dead-rubber ODI in Abu Dhabi has
reportedly caused a lot of controversy.
Left-hander Alam was facing spinner Xavier
Doherty during the 18th over of Pakistan's
innings with Smith positioned at slip.
The Aussie fielder noticed the batsman
preparing to play a premeditated sweep shot
and just after Doherty released the ball, Smith
ran to leg slip where Alam swept the ball and
his Australian counterpart took a simple catch,
News.com.au reported.
Both on-field umpires conferred before Alam
was adjudged out for a fourth-ball duck with
the team's total on 3-80 but the batsman
remained on the boundary line to seek
clarification from a match official before finally
walking off, hitting the boundary rope with his
bat in frustration as he left the field.
Had the catch taken place before this series,
chances are it would have been given not out
as the original rules stated that any significant
movement by any fielder after the ball comes
into play, and before the ball reaches the
striker, is unfair.
However, a recent amendment, which is yet to
be fully enshrined in cricket law books but is in
the 'Match Officials Almanac' for 2014-15, has
a different interpretation of the issue.
The updated law states that a fielder is
entitled to move before the ball reaches the
batsman as long as it's in response to the shot
the batsman is shaping to play.
Australia won the match in incredible
circumstances, with Glenn Maxwell bowling a
double-wicket maiden in the final over to seal
a miraculous one-run win and a 3-0 series
sweep, the report added.
Steve Smith's 'unusual' catch against Pakistan sparks controversy
