ADELAIDE CONTROVERSY

Players pretty confident Lyon was out: Ross Taylor

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

The 'Hot Spot' replay showed a mark on Lyon's bat that could have coincided with the point at which the ball could have made contact. © Cricbuzz

Ross Taylor suggested the umpire's decision that gave Nathan Lyon a reprieve on the second day of the third Test at Adelaide on Saturday (November 28), despite having evidence for overturning the decision, had a significant bearing on the match.

The controversy ensued after Lyon, who had not opened his account, had attempted a sweep shot against Mitchell Santner, the debutant spinner, that hit his shoulder and then looped to slip. S Ravi, the on-field umpire, believed there was no contact with the bat and ruled him not out. However, being sure otherwise, New Zealand referred the decision immediately to the third umpire Nigel Llong.

The 'Hot Spot' replay showed a mark on Lyon's bat that could have coincided with the point at which the ball could have made contact. With the replays flashing on the screens across the Adelaide Oval, Lyon began walking off the field assuming that he would be given out. Australia, at that stage were on 118, trailing New Zealand by 84 runs. There was also a doubt about Mitchell Starc being available for batting after an ankle injury. However, he was soon given not out, much to the surprise of New Zealand.

"The players were pretty confident it was out, the Hot Spot they showed up (on the big screen), Lyon walking off and nearly getting to the boundary," Taylor said. "I think its had a big bearing on the match.

"We can understand when the umpires make the wrong decision on the field, but once you've got so many different angles and what not, you would think that 90 to 100 per cent of the time you're going to get the right answer. But I guess we didn't today."

The confusion only was upped with the audio of Llongs conversation with the on-field umpires during the review process. Super slow-motion, close-up, Hot Spot, real-time snickometer and even ball tracking (to explore the leg before mode of dismissal) was employed. There was a white dot on the top edge of Lyons bat, but it was dismissed by Llong for not being convincing evidence. Also the fact that the snickometer showed no sharp noise influenced the final decision made after about five minutes of reviewing.

Thereafter, Lyon - who scored 34 - went on to add 74 crucial runs with Peter Nevill for the ninth wicket, which evidently deflated New Zealand's spirit. Australia ended up being bowled out for 224, with a lead of 22 runs. By the time their innings ended, it was almost twilight which presented ideal conditions for the Australian quicks to exploit.

Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh made the most of the swing and seam of the pink ball and had the visitors reduced to 116 for 5 when stumps were drawn with a lead of 94.

"We talked about taking some time while we were batting to get us as close (as possible) to that evening session," Hazlewood said. "The way those three guys (Lyon, Nevill and Starc) batted was crucial to the situation of the game, and those runs they got were very important."

Taylor, who was trapped leg before off Hazlewood for 32, said that in addition to the nature of the controversial decision, it was the timing that made it crucial. "The new ball does a lot under lights, so if we were able to bat a bit longer in that middle session it might have made things a little bit easier but it wasn't to be," said Taylor.

© Cricbuzz

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