Watch: Ben Stokes' premature celebration lets Steve Smith off the hook, sparks controversy on Day 5 of 5th Ashes Test
England captain Ben Stokes may be involved in a big moment in the final Ashes Test as he dropped Steve Smith in a rather bizarre fashion.
The final day of the fifth Ashes Test had been as topsy-turvy as the rest of the series before it had been before rain delayed proceedings after Lunch. Australia started out in control with David Warner and Usman Khawaja putting up over 150 runs for the first wicket as they chased a target of 384.
However, England who are trailing 2-1 and are looking to avoid a first series defeat at home to Ausralia in over two decades, came roaring back as Chris Woakes dismissed both Khawaja and Warner in consecutive overs. Mark Wood got Marnus Labuschagne shortly thereafter and Australia found themselves going from 140/0 to 169/3.
Steve Smith and Travis Head then shored things up for Australia and their stand for the fourth wicket was worth 69 runs off 102 balls when the two sides left the field for Lunch. Smith, however, had been saved by a rather bizarre sequence of events just before the end of the session which could have big implications on the outcome of the series.
The incident occurred off the first ball of the last over of the session bowled by Moeen Ali. Smith defended and the ball looped up behind him leg side to Stokes who was standing at leg slip. The players celebrated but the ball popped out of Stokes' hands, after which the England captain reviewed with a wry smile on his face. Smith had got a glove on it and replays further showed that Stokes had in fact taken a one-handed catch above his head and then knocked the ball on his thigh as he proceeded to throw it up and celebrate.
It then turned out that England had lost a review since Stokes had lost control of the ball and dropped the catch, which led to a long drawn discussion between Stokes and the umpires both during and after the over.
What the law states
There was a similar situation earlier in the series when Mitchell Starc's catch to dismiss England opener Ben Duckett was ruled not out by third umpire Marais Erasmus as it was deemed that Starc had pressed the ball into the ground after taking the catc. The law effectively stats that there has to be enough evidence to show that the catcher had been in total control of the ball once he has pouched it for it to be deemed a legitimate dismissal.
“The act of making a catch shall start from the time when the ball first comes into contact with a fielder's person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement,” says Law 33.3. The umpires deemed in both cases that the catchers were not in complete control of the ball after holding on to it and hence, the batters survived.
