New Zealand vs Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal survives after third-umpire goes against soft-signal of Kyle Jamieson’s catch

The on-field ‘soft signal’ created a lot of controversy when Dawid Malan caught Suryakumar Yadav in the deep during the fourth T20I between India and England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The soft signal was ‘Out’ and while the catch didn’t seem clean to the naked eye, the third umpire didn’t find conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field umpires’ call.

On Tuesday, March 23, a similar incident took place, this time during the second ODI between New Zealand and Bangladesh at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The on-field umpires gave the soft-signal ‘Out’ when Kyle Jamieson seemed to have gotten hold of the ball in a return catch from Tamim Iqbal. It happened in the 15th over after the Black Caps opted to field first after winning the toss.

Tamim Iqbal gets a lifeline

Jamieson bowled a full-pitched delivery and Tamim tried to smash the ball down the ground. But the batsman couldn’t time the ball properly and ended up hitting it straight back to Jamieson. The bowler, 6 feet and eight inches tall, dived on to his front and went for the catch. The on-field umpire reckoned Jamieson took the catch and gave the soft-signal ‘Out’ without hesitation.

However, third umpire Chris Gaffaney felt that he had conclusive evidence to rule the decision in the batsman’s favour. He was heard saying, “I have got the ball on the ground and the player is not fully in control.” Later, ‘Not Out’ was flashed on the big screen, much to Tamim’s relief. Jamieson wasn’t a happy man by any means and had his arms in the air with frustration.

Here’s the video:

At that point in time, Tamim had already gotten his eyes in as he was batting on 34 runs. After Matt Henry got rid of Liton Das in the second over, Tamim and Soumya Sarkar put on an 81-run stand to bring the Tigers back into the contest.

In the first game at the University Oval in Dunedin, Tamim couldn’t perform, both as a batsman and a skipper. He started with a six and a four, but was then trapped in front by Trent Boult.