Watch: Steve Smith livid over umpire’s decision

The ‘Boxing Day’ Test between New Zealand and Australia is already grabbing eyeballs as the two teams are battling it out to get their nose ahead on the very first day.

The Blackcaps had a terrific start to the Test match, as left-arm pacer Trent Boult sent opener Joe Burns packing for a first-ball duck. Marnus Labuschagne was the next to follow up and he stitched a 60-run stand with David Warner before Neil Wagner got the better of the swashbuckling left-hander.

Wagner vs Smith

Steven Smith was next to follow up and he was welcomed with some repetitive short-pitch stuff from Neil Wagner. The left-armer was trying to get into the head of Steven Smith by pitching him bouncers right on his body.

Be it over the wicket or round the wicket, he was creating problems for the southpaw. He hit Steve Smith twice on the body bowling over the wicket as the batsman didn’t offer any stroke, however, he tried to steal a single but the umpire intervened and asked him to stay at his end.

Here’s the video:

https://twitter.com/Davidthompson42/status/1210058484642828288?s=20

Smith was livid at the umpire’s call

When Smith was asked to stay at his end by umpire Nigel Llong, the latter signaled it as a dead ball as Smith wasn’t offering any stroke and trying to steal a single.

Although the batsman was taking an ambiguous action, but the umpire thought that Smith was deliberately taking the ball on his body and trying to steal a leg-bye run.

Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne was on air, and he was bemused by the umpire’s call.

He stated, “Well the umpire’s wrong,” Warne said on Fox Cricket. “Steve Smith has every right to be angry because the interpretation Nigel Llong is giving at the minute is incorrect. The rule is if you evade a short ball and it hits any part of your body you’re allowed to run even if you don’t play a shot.

He further added, “I’m sure someone’s going to have a chat to Nigel Llong in the lunch break because Steve Smith’s livid and rightly so.”

Smith nearing his 27th Test ton

The incident, however, didn’t lapse Smith’s concentration as he is nearing his 27th test ton and Australia are very well placed at 220/4 from 77 overs till the news was written.

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