'Not Great Umpiring,' Heinrich Klaasen Questions Officials' Decision; Likely to Be Fined
Heinrich Klaasen (Source: BCCI/IPL)
There were two controversial decisions by umpires during the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) clash that prompted former's middle-order batter Heinrich Klaasen to question them. The third ball of the 19th over and the second ball of the final over of the SRH innings which was faced by Abdul Samad were declared fair deliveries as both times they were sent upstairs for review.
He was so frustrated with all this that he straightway termed this as 'not great umpiring' during the mid-innings interview as he felt that the ball was clearly over the waist. Claims like these have seen players getting fined as IPL's Code of Conduct doesn't allow anyone to question the decisions.
Klaasen was further infuriated by the fact that the crowd threw nuts and bolts at the LSG dugout in the second last over which according to him, broke the momentum while he and Samad were batting as there was a slight halt in play.
"The wicket changed quickly in the middle. There was some spin and decent amount of bounce, there were a few rippers (by Krunal - Markram and Phillips' wicket.) That broke the moment, it was difficult to play the harder length balls. Need to bowl length and slower ones into the wicket, can't be too full. It's not a bad wicket, but it's a bit slow. Can use the natural variations. I reckon if the spinners can bowl quickly into the wicket, the natural variations can take over. Disappointed of the crowd to be honest, that's not what you want. That also broke the momentum, not great umpiring either."
The Proteas superstar played a fine hand of 47 runs from 29 balls with three sixes and as many fours alongside Abdul Samad who fired 37 runs from 25 deliveries while smacking four maximums to take their side to 182 after the end of 20 overs.
By the time of writing, LSG were 89 for two after the completion of 13 overs.
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