Two players from either team — Nottinghamshire and Birmingham Bears — decided to retire themselves during the two side's rain-curtailed game in the T20 Blast tournament in Edgbaston on Sunday, June 5. The match between the two teams in the North Group was reduced to eight overs because of rains and saw Bears’ skipper Carlos Brathwaite and opposition batter Samit Patel employ a strategy that fans witnessed in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season.
Being put to bat first, the Bears set up a par score of 98/5, courtesy of Chris Benjamin’s quick-fire 17-ball 36, which included four fours and two sixes. Pinch hitter and West Indies' 2016 T20 World Cup hero Brathwaite came to bat in the fifth over and smashed two fours and one six on his way to a handy 11-ball 17.
But at the end of the seventh over, Braithwaite, who also skippers the Bears, decided to retire out with his team’s score at 80/4. He was replaced by Sam Hain in the middle of the park, but the 26-year-old Hain did not get to face a single ball as Alex Davies finished the innings by scoring 14 off four balls with a four and a six each.
Chasing the score set by Birmingham, Nottinghamshire did not get the start that they might have envisioned as Joe Clarke perished early to fast bowler Olly Stone for a golden duck. However, a 55-run stand between Alex Hales and Ben Duckett brought them back into the game. Patel came in to bat in the last over of the match with his team needing 15 runs to win.
But after he scored only two runs off as many balls, he retired out. He gave way to Tom Moores, who smacked a six off Craig Miles, but couldn’t take his team home. The Bears won the match by one run and moved to second in the points table in the North Group.
Back in April, Ashwin also retired out while playing for beaten finalists Rajasthan Royals (RR) during their IPL 2022 match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Riyan Parag was the player who came out to bat after the veteran bowling all-rounder.
