‘Daylight’: Mitchell Marsh walks off despite not edging Ashwin delivery, opts against DRS review
In a bizarre dismissal that India wouldn’t have minded one bit, Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh walked off the field despite not edging a delivery during the second day of the Pink-Ball Test in Adelaide on Saturday.
Walking in at number 6 after the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne, Marsh was adjudged caught-behind by wicket-keeper off a loopy R Ashwin delivery despite not offering a nick.
Batting in the 64th over after Australia went past India’s first-innings total of 180 earlier, Marsh prodded forward to Ashwin’s fuller delivery and seemingly brushed his pad as the ball rushed past the outside-edge. While Ashwin was uncertain of an appeal, umpire Richard Illingworth almost instantly raised his finger to adjudge Marsh lbw.
Surprisingly, the Aussie all-rounder decided against a review and walked off the field without consulting his well-settled partner, Travis Head, handing an under-pressure Indian side a ‘free wicket’. Replays later suggested that there was “daylight” between the bat and ball as the willow came in contact with Marsh’s pad, eventually dismissing on nine off 26 balls.
That’s as clear as it gets, pad first to Mitch Marsh. Even David Warner and Harsha Bhogle agree. The third umpire should have reviewed it from more angles, not just the side-on view.
Here’s the front-on slow zoom-in view – pic.twitter.com/ZY9B6bXb8Y
— philliphereᝰ (@thephilliphere) December 7, 2024
Earlier in the 58th over, Marsh received a touch of fortune when TV umpire Richard Kettleborough negated a DRS appeal from Ashwin and India citing a lack of “conclusive evidence” to deem whether the ball had brushed the pad before the bat. Marsh had lunged forward to negotiate Ashwin as the ball evidently hit the pad first on replays from the front-camera. “How do we get better images after the decision is made?” former Australia opener Matthew Hayden quipped on commentary.
