Nathan Lyon was denied several potential wickets by the umpires on a tense final day of the third Test as Australia were forced to settle for a draw against South Africa in the rain-shortened match in Sydney.
Lyon had two glaring wickets denied – one from an LBW decision and another from another low catch which was given out but overruled by the third umpire when the batter stood their ground, plus a couple of other close LBW calls.
The batter on each occasion for the main two controversies was Heinrich Klaasen who lasted 61 deliveries in his 35 in the second innings after the tourists were forced to follow on. The drawn result prevented Australia from sweeping the three-match series and from going five from five in their home summer program against the Proteas and West Indies.
Former Australian batter Mark Waugh was adamant the LBW call was wrong even though the DRS ruled the impact was umpire’s call, meaning Chris Gaffaney’s original not-out decision remained.
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“I reckon that’s given out nine times out of 10,” Waugh said.
Waugh and fellow Fox Cricket commentators Ian Smith and Kerry O’Keeffe were also bemused when Klaasen was given not out off Lyon when a catch by Steve Smith at slip was ruled to have not carried.
“With all the forensic technology to stop this sort of thing happening, the wrong decisions are still being made,” O’Keeffe said.
Gaffaney gave the soft signal of out as he lodged the third review this Test for a suspected catch in the slips cordon.
Third umpire Richard Kettleborough examined multiple replays and requested to view a side-on angle of the would-be catch.
But none was forthcoming as host broadcaster Fox Sports, which provides footage to the third umpire, did not have access to a side-on replay.
Despite this, Kettleborough zoomed in on a front-on angle of the catch before determining the ball had contacted the ground after it passed into Smith’s hands, just as he believed it did on two previous occasions in this Test.
Klaasen was eventually dismissed for 35, three overs after the non-catch, when Josh Hazlewood’s length ball swung into the stumps as he tried to play a drive.
Hazlewood took 4-48 in his comeback from injury as South Africa were bowled out for 255 in reply to Australia’s 4(dec)-475.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Pat Cummins (3-60) and Lyon (2-88) also toiled hard as the Proteas dug in after resuming on 6-149.
Proteas captain Dean Elgar was out for 10, gloving a short ball for the fourth time this series, to give the Aussies a glimmer of hope of bowling out the visitors in the 47 overs left for their second innings.
But Klaasen put on 48 in 18 overs with Sarel Erwee (42 not out), who then combined with Temba Bavuma (17 not out) to see the South Africans to safety at 2-106 when stumps were called early with no result possible.
“Fourteen wickets (on day five) was a hard ask,” Hazlewood said. “If we didn’t lose any to rain, who knows what may have been.
“It would have been nice to have seen the wicket after five days of traffic on it and seen how that would have played, whether it was back to the old school SCG, but it was good fun today.”
Australia’s wins in Brisbane and Melbourne last month had allowed them to claim their first series win over the Proteas since 2014.
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