India reprieve Bell after controversial run out

England batsman bemused at incident in second Test.

NOTTINGHAM:

England were 254 for three, leading by 187 runs as centurion Ian Bell was given a reprieve by India after appearing to be run out off the last ball before tea on the third day of the second Test against India at Trent Bridge.

Off the final ball of the session bowled by Ishant Sharma, Eoin Morgan flicked the ball down to square-leg. The batsmen assumed the ball had gone for four and Bell, who had made a superb 137, left his ground to walk off to the pavilion for tea.

The ball was returned, however, without apparently touching the ropes and Praveen Kumar flicked off the bails. The appeal was referred to the third umpire with Billy Bowden ruling that the ball had not been called dead and that Bell was out.

Bell was bemused by the decision and claimed that the umpire had called ‘over’ which would have meant that he was not out. The Indians were booed off the field and back on again after the interval.  However, those soon turned to cheers when the crowd saw Bell coming down the steps to resume his innings.

Earlier, Rahul Dravid’s century had ensured the tourists gain an important 67-run lead in their first-innings of the second Test as India look to level the series.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2011.

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