VIDEO | Sarfaraz Ahmed goes for an unsuccessful review after seeing replays on big screen

Needing a win to book a place in the semifinal of the World Cup, New Zealand got off to a horror start losing half of their batting line up for a mere 83 runs. With Shaheen Afridi running riot, Colin de Grandhomme and James Neesham decided not to risk too much and build a partnership to take the team to a respectable, and more importantly, defendable total. 

And they did just that. By the end of the 43rd over, the duo had ensured that New Zealand had already posted 172 runs on the board and were in place to attack the bowlers in the last powerplay. On the third ball of the 44th over, though, all those dreams appeared to be coming down but what could have been disastrous for New Zealand turned into a hilarious moment on the field.

Afridi, bowling his last over, decided to go for a full ball just outside Neesham’s off stump in order to keep the run flow in check. As the ball passed the bat, there were two sounds which forced the Pakistans to go up for an appeal. The umpire decided to leave the decision to the third umpire whilst providing a soft signal of not out. With only the bump ball to be checked, the third umpire, on seeing the replays, agreed with his on-field team to signal not out. 

But we were not done. Sarfaraz, after seeing the replay, wanted to be doubly sure of the call since the TV umpire was not allowed to use Ultra Edge for an umpire review. As the TV umpire again had a look at the decision, it became painfully clear that there was daylight between the ball and bat. While the review would, in all likelihood, have been wasted anyways, Sarfaraz’s inability to judge the call despite the replays made for a light moment in a high-intensity game.