WATCH: Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls an unusual delivery; Umpire calls it a dead-ball!
What’s the story?
Indian pacer Bhuvneshar Kumar bowled an unusual delivery, almost a yard before the usual landing crease which was eventually declared as a dead-ball by the umpire during the third ODI of the three-match series against hosts Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The background
Aaron Finch’s men started off the ODI series on a bright note winning the first game at the SCG. Australia posted 288-5 in 50 overs, courtesy half-centuries from Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb. Chasing 289 runs for securing a 1-0 lead in the series, India, who were off to a worst possible start eventually fell short of the Aussie total by 34 runs. In the second ODI at the Adelaide Oval, the visitors were determined to claim a victory and level the series before heading to Melbourne for the final encounter of the series.
Virat Kohli’s men did just that by chasing 299 runs in 49.2 overs for the loss of just four wickets. Courtesy Kohli’s century (104 off 112 balls) and MS Dhoni’s half-century (55* off 54 balls), India made it 1-1 thereby making the Melbourne game, the series decider. At the MCG, Kohli opted to bowl first on winning the toss. India started off well picking up the wickets of openers, Aaron Finch and Alex Carey with just 27 runs on the board.
The heart of the matter
Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Australian skipper, Aaron Finch for the third successive time in the three-match ODI series at the MCG. But, the dismissal was preceded by some interesting tactics from Bhuvi, who decided to try something new as suggested to him by wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.
In the fifth ball of the ninth over, Bhuvi bowled an unusual delivery from behind the stumps. He ran in and got into his delivery stride beside the umpire and released the ball almost a yard before the usual landing crease, which put Finch off and he backed out. Though it was called as a dead-ball, Bhuvi got his revenge the very next ball, as the ball stuck Finch’s pad in front of the stumps.
What’s next?
Indian bowlers must try and restrict the Aussie batsmen to make things easy for their batsmen to chase down the target and clinch the series in style.
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