BBL 2020-21: Melbourne Stars' batsman Nick Larkin hides the ball and steals a cheeky single

Melbourne Stars were up against Sydney Thunder in the third game of the ongoing 2020 edition of the Big Bash League 2020-21 (BBL) at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Saturday, December 12. During the match, Melbourne Stars’ Nick Larkin was involved in a hilarious situation on the field as he stole a cheeky single after ‘hiding the ball’ and left the viewers in splits.

The toss went Melbourne Stars skipper Glenn Maxwell’s way as he elected to bat first. The team managed to post a total of 169 on the board in their 20 overs as the all-rounder Marcus Stoinis hammered 61 runs off 37 deliveries. His knock included 6 boundaries and 2 maximums at a strike rate of 164.86. Stoinis was ably supported by the skipper as Maxwell added 39 runs to the board in 29 balls.

In 19 overs, Melbourne was standing at 166/6 and was looking to add some more runs to the scoreboard with Nick Larkin on the crease. On the first delivery off the last over of the innings by Daniel Sams, Nick tried to slog a full-length delivery bowled on the leg stump-line. However, he missed reading the ball properly as the ball hit him on his waist and slid inside his shirt. With the ball nowhere in sight, Larkin and Adam Zampa, who was batting at the other end, both ran for a single.

Nick Larkin gets involved in a bizarre incident

Meanwhile, the Sydney Thunder were bewildered as they couldn’t locate the ball on the ground while Larkin and Zampa completed their one run. It was only halfway through the run that the ball slipped out of Larkin’s jersey. However, the on-field umpires declared the ball as a dead-ball and Larkin was given no runs.

This incident served as entertainment for the fans amid a rather competitive atmosphere. The official Twitter handle of BBL shared the clip of his humorous episode by tweeting, “Hide the ball and run! Bit cheeky here from Nick Larkin.”

Watch the video

Hide the ball and run! Bit cheeky here from Nick Larkin… 😝

A @KFCAustralia Bucket Moment | #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/M4T4h2l3g6

— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 12, 2020

Larkin couldn’t contribute much for his team as Sams scalped his wicket to put an end to Nick’s knock of 15 runs off 14 balls. He was soon followed by Zampa and Melbourne could collect only three runs in the final over.

In reply, Sydney Thunder could score only 147 runs in their 20 overs as the opposition bowlers breathed fire with the ball. Adam Zampa emerged as the pick of the bowler for Stars as he scalped two crucial wickets while bowling at an economy of 2.5. He was aptly supported by Liam Hatcher and Hilton Cartwright who picked 3 and 2 wickets respectively.