Bengaluru, June 20: It has become much easier to find faults with humans after the advent of technology. On Wednesday, South Africa wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock came under fire for not being able to detect the slight nick that New Zealand captain Kane Williamson had off the bowling of spinner Imran Tahir.
In a closely fought match of the ICC World Cup 2019 at Edgbaston, the final delivery of the leg-spinner had touched the lower edge of Williamson's bat before landing in de Kock's gloves. Tahir was excited and wanted to go for an appeal but the keeper was not much interested.
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South African skipper Faf du Plessis also looked a bit moved but seeing the keeper not going after it, he too gave up from availing the DRS. Later, TV replays showed that Williamson indeed had nicked the ball.
Masterful Williamson nudges South Africa closer to exit
The commentators were stunned and kept on asking why de Kock couldn't sense it and go for the referral. The Black Caps captain went on to score an unbeaten century to guide his team home and almost packed off SA home.
SAFE AS HOUSES | QDK UP TO SECOND
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NZ are 94/4 after 21 overs
DYK: Quinton has moved on to second on the list of all-time dismissals by Protea wicket-keepers at the World Cup.#ProteaFire 🔥#CWC19 #NZvSA pic.twitter.com/js3QmHyvw6
It is not easy to pick those nicks in a split of a second. Even veteran keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni did not do it perfectly in India's high-voltage clash with Pakistan at Old Trafford on June 16. In that game, a ball from wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has hit Pakistan batter Babar Azam's pad before touching the bat.
It was impossible to detect the details though naked eyes but when a confident Chahal asked captain Virat Kohli to go upstairs, the latter went to Dhoni for his opinion and the ace cricketer suggested against doing so.
According to him, the ball had hit the bat and going for a referral would only waste India's review. However, it didn't turn out into a major ruckus unlike in South Africa's case since Azam couldn't finish off the game like Williamson and India went on to win the game unlike the Proteas.