'He knows the bloke in the truck' - Tim Paine takes a hilarious dig at Ross Taylor after the Kiwi batsman survives an LBW call

It was another day of Australian domination in the Boxing Day Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. After having resumed the day at 4-277, the Aussies riding on the back of half-centuries from Steven Smith and skipper Tim Paine and a sumptuous second Test ton from Travis Head [114], posted a commanding total of 467 in the first innings.

With such a humongous target to chase down, the Kiwis needed to have a solid start, and they looked like getting it with Tom Blundell looking positive from the outset before Pat Cummins induced a loose waft from the opening batsmen. Skipper Kane Williamson didn’t hang around much either when he top-edged James Pattinson to offer a simple catch to his counterpart, Tim Paine, much to the disappointment of commentator Ian Smith.

“That is just an out and out error. That’s so far outside off stump, he could have hit that anywhere on the offside. Look how far he’s tried to fetch that from. That to me is a mental error and I’m starting to think it’s fatigue. I’m starting to think he’s making these errors out fatigue.” Ian Smith said on commentary as quoted by Fox Cricket.

But, it could have been much worse for the Kiwis, with Ross Taylor adjudged leg-before-wicket of the bowling of James Pattinson, only to have it overturned on Decision Review System, much to the ire of captain Tim Paine.

Tim Paine has always hogged the attention by his hilarious on-field digs

Tim Paine has assumed a cult figure as far as taking hilarious digs at the opposition batsmen. Who can forget his ‘babysitting’ jibe at Rishabh Pant last summer. And Paine wasn’t going to let the LBW incident pass by without taking a subtle dig at Ross Taylor.

In a hilarious conversation with the short-leg fielder Matthew Wade, Paine said that it was not the first time that Taylor was plumb LBW and wasn’t given out. The Aussie captain reminisced about the incident in the recently-concluded Test series between New Zealand and England where Broad had trapped right in front of the wickets, only for it to missing leg.

“That’s twice I’ve seen him get out plumb and not given,” Paine joked to Matthew Wade. “Did you see Broady hit him in the pad in New Zealand? It was absolutely hitting middle stump and had a missing leg. He knows the bloke in the truck.”

Taylor, however, was quick to respond when he said, “The only problem was I hit that one in New Zealand,” Taylor replied. “That’s why it wasn’t given.”

"He knows the bloke in the truck!" 😂😂#AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/IxgZ1AiGW9

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 27, 2019