New Zealand and Sri Lanka are currently playing the first of three ODIs in Auckland, and one of their star batters had a massive stroke of luck early on within the third over itself.
Opener Finn Allen was on nine runs off six balls when a full around off delivery from Kasun Rajitha clipped the off stump. However, the bails did not fall off, nor did the light sensors go off despite everyone on the field and in the stadium hearing a big noise as everyone thought that the batter was bowled.
Upon replaying the moment, it was clear that the ball clipped the stump but the bails failed to respond. The same was confirmed by Ultra Edge, which showed a massive spike when the ball hit the stumps.
See the video here:
It was really a lucky moment for Allen, who used the chance to score 51 off 49 before he hit a ball off Chamika Karunaratne straight to Rajitha, leaving the Black Caps 108-3 in the 19th over.
The match was also a maiden international cap for Chad Bowes, who made the most of the opportunity with a boundary on his first ball. However, he only managed to score 14 off 15 balls as the Sri Lankans began to dismantle the New Zealand batters.
Apart from Allen, Daryl Mitchell was also in good knick, scoring 47 runs in 58 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name. However, Lahiru Kumara got his all-important wicket after he lofted the ball into the hands of Karunaratne.
New Zealand's other debutant Rachin Ravindra also played a fruitful innings but missed out on his half-century by one run, scoring 49 off 52 balls with 4 fours and a six to his name. He combined with Glenn Phillips (39) for a 66-run partnership, but Karunaratne's four wickets for 43 runs in nine overs was the best by the Sri Lankan bowlers, who managed to dismiss the Kiwis within 274 runs in 49.3 overs.
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