Cricket world baffled by mysterious Big Bash scenes: 'Never seen that'

Cricket fans have been left scratching their heads after a bizarre incident involving Melbourne Renegades skipper Nic Maddinson in Thursday night's Big Bash League (BBL) win over Brisbane Heat. Maddinson starred with the bat, belting 87 runs to set up a 22-run victory in what was his 100th BBL game.

However, Maddinson started walking back the pavilion on 42 runs after appearing to hit his own wicket, when the stumps lit up and one of the bails fell to the ground. The Renegades skipper thought he was out after trying to play a pull-shot off Mark Steketee, with the ball looping over the stumps as Maddinson swivelled around on his crease.

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The batter and commentators assumed he'd accidentally hit the stumps when he front leg swung back in his crease while trying to play the shot, but replays showed that he never really got close to the wicket. The ball had also comfortably cleared the stumps and there was little wind to speak of out in the middle, leaving commentators baffled as to what transpired.

“Oh what’s happened there? What’s it come off? The bails have just come off,” former New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith said on the Fox Cricket coverage. “All I can think is when his back foot swivelled round and made contact with the ground, it shook the ground. Maybe it wasn’t that stable, because it looked when he put that back foot down closest to the stumps, the bail fell off. Who knows? Spooky.”

Maddinson was promptly sent back to the crease after officials decided that the mysterious and unexplainable incident did not constitute a wicket. The extraordinary scenes left viewers baffled as well, with many saying they had never seen anything like it and others claiming it must have been the work of a 'ghost'.

Melbourne Renegades skipper Nic Maddinson has plundered a scintillating 87 runs against Brisbane Heat to set up a 22-run victory in his 100th BBL game.

Maddinson's 100th game was one to savour and the Renegades skipper sprang out of the blocks quickly, keeping his cool when four wickets fell in a clump, and putting his foot down again late to lift the Renegades to 7-166 batting first in Cairns after being sent in. In reply the Heat were restricted to 6-144.

Maddinson set the platform for victory with an intelligent knock that included 20 runs off Xavier Bartlett's second over and a further 22 off his third in a 49-ball innings that included 10 fours and three sixes. It was Maddinson's highest score in T20 cricket.

"It is really nice to get off to a (good) start after the last couple of years have been tough for Renegades fans," Maddinson told Fox Cricket. "We lost a couple of wickets through the middle but we wanted to play an entertaining brand of cricket.

"We drafted (spinner) Akeal this year knowing the potency he could provide in the powerplay. He did a great job."

Renegades recover after wickets fall early

West Indies international Andre Russell (35 off 28 balls) celebrated his return to the Renegades with a powerhouse innings including three sixes. The visitors rocketed to 0-65 off six overs before Sam Harper (21) was well caught at fine leg by Josh Brown off the first delivery bowled by the impressive James Bazley (2-19 off four).

The Renegades lost 4-22 in six overs due to some shrewd captaincy by Jimmy Peirson and smart bowling by spinners Mitch Swepson (1-30) and Matt Kuhnemann (3-32).

Swepson knocked over Jake Fraser-McGurk (three) with a classic googly. Then Kuhnemann took two wickets in one over by slowing down his pace and bamboozling Aaron Finch (four) and off-season recruit Jono Wells (one). That was when Maddinson and Russell took control in a 78-run stand off 46 deliveries.

West Indies T20 international Akeal Hossein (3-15 off four overs) opened the bowling for the Renegades with his left-arm orthodox spinners and dismissed opener Max Bryant for a duck with his fifth delivery. The momentum stayed with the Renegades from then on.

Hossein was playing his first game in the BBL and was the dominant bowler on the night to give the Renegades a great start to the new season after finishing bottom of the ladder last season. Heat recruit and New Zealand international Colin Munro (35 off 30 balls) was beginning to look dangerous with the bat before he was run out via a direct hit from Tom Rogers.

When Brisbane skipper Peirson was bowled by Hossein for 43 off 30 deliveries in the 15th over, the required rate was essentially unachievable. So it proved as the Renegades ran out convincing winners.

with AAP

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