Black Caps denied key wicket as catch is ruled out

The Black Caps were denied a crucial breakthrough midway through the second hour of the fourth day of the first test against Bangladesh.

Henry Nicholls thought he had caught Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 13 off the bowling of Ajaz Patel, diving forward and to his left at mid-off.

The wicket would have left Bangladesh 271-6 one ball after the first drinks break of the day, leading by 264 runs at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

But third umpire Rod Tucker was called upon to confirm the catch and after first thinking it looked OK, ultimately decided the ball had touched the ground on its way into Nicholls’ hands.

Tucker’s call came after he decided he could see the ball touching the ground when he went frame-by-frame through Nicholls’ catch: “The ball is on the ground in that frame there”.

The point of contact was obscured by the shadow Nicholls’ body cast on the ground, making it hard to draw a conclusive judgement.

Bangladesh ultimately lost their sixth wicket two overs later, when Patel trapped Mushfiqur Rahim LBW for 67 to leave the hosts 278-6, leading by 271.

They were eventually dismissed for 338 in the second session, with Mehidy going on to make an unbeaten 50.

That left the Black Caps a chase of 332 in just over a day and a half to win.

The Black Caps have only chased down more than 300 to win a test on two occasions – when they made 317 in Bangladesh in 2008 and 324 against Pakistan in Christchurch in 1994.