Mohammed Siraj for Hyderabad - (Source: ScreenGrab/X.com)
On Friday, December 12, the Super League round of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) got underway with eight teams divided into two groups. Eyes were on the Hyderabad and Mumbai match as star players like Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan were in action.
In the ongoing match, Mumbai, batting first, put on a shambolic show and amassed just 131 runs after 20 overs. Mohammed Siraj was the star with the ball as the right-arm seamer took a three-wicket haul. The star Indian pacer registered the figures of 3/17 in his 3.4 overs.
Partial DRS irks players in SMAT super league
The 31-year-old had the chance to take a hat-trick but was denied the opportunity because of a partial DRS that made his debut in the Super League. Unreal scenes occurred during the match as there was no ball-tracking available.
Notably, unlike the group-stage round, the BCCI decided to introduce DRS for the Super League, but it was just implemented partially. Notably, on the hat-trick ball, Siraj trapped Hyderabad batter on the pads, but the umpire didn't raise his finger.
Siraj denied hat-trick due to lack of infrastructure
Meanwhile, the fielding side opted for a review, only to learn that there was no ball tracking. The third umpire passed his judgment based on the replay and slow-motions, assessing whether the ball would have hit the stumps or not. Eventually, the third umpire aligned with the on-field official and ruled the batter was not out based on just his assumption.
Interestingly, it was not the case for just the Hyderabad vs Mumbai game, but it will be the same for all remaining SMAT games. Talking about the ongoing match, at the time of writing this article, Hyderabad are well ahead with 40/0 after 2.5 overs.
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