England and Somerset batter Shoaib Bashir narrowly avoided being bowled due to a fallen towel on Day 1 of the County Championship Division One match against Hampshire. The incident occurred during the 54th over after Somerset captain Lewis Gregory won the toss and chose to bat first.
Liam Dawson (4/28) and Kyle Abbott (4/37) dominated Somerset’s batting, taking seven wickets and leaving the team struggling at 136/9 in 53.2 overs. Abbott managed to break Shoaib Bashir’s stumps with his first delivery and began celebrating the dismissal.
Bashir quickly indicated that Abbott’s dropped towel at the non-striker’s end had distracted him while facing the delivery. As a result, the umpire ruled the ball dead, allowing Bashir to continue his innings.
According to Law 20.4.2.6 of the MCC, the umpire can call a dead ball if the striker is distracted by any noise or movement while preparing to receive or during a delivery. This applies regardless of whether the distraction comes from within the match or outside of it.
Kyle Abbott shines with the ball in the second innings as well
https://x.com/countychamp/status/1839334311788442077?s=46
As a result, according to the rules, Bashir was permitted to continue his innings. However, he was unable to capitalize on this second chance, getting trapped in front of the stumps by Abbott just two balls later and departing for a three-ball duck. Consequently, Somerset was bowled out for 136 in their first innings.
In response, Hampshire took a 60-run lead in their first innings, scoring 196, with Toby Albert leading the way with 77 runs off 162 balls. Jack Leach took five wickets for Somerset with figures of 5/52, while Bashir went wicketless in 11 overs, conceding 47 runs.
On Day 3, Somerset led by 98 runs after 45.2 overs, with captain Lewis Gregory not out on 54. Abbott recorded 4/25, and Mohammad Abbas took 3/54 in 12 overs during the second innings.
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