Watch: The ball through the helmet grilles hits Michael Pollard

New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition, Georgie Pie Super Smash, witnessed an unpleasant incident on Friday. In a match against Central Districts, Michael Pollard, the Wellington batsman, took a blow just under his eye. A short ball released by Mitchell Claydon almost took the right hander’s right eye however luckily his helmet saved him right at the last moment during a match being played at McLean Park in Napier.

At 88/5 and his team needing 78 from just 45 balls, Pollard had no option but to go after the bowling. He tried to pull a short ball that took the outside edge of the bat and got stuck between the helmet grille and lid. As he immediately went down on his knees, the other players and umpires converged towards him looking concerned.

Pollard eventually got up and removed the helmet with the ball still stuck inside. The bowler was the first one to inspect his eyes and thankfully for Pollard, there was no damage done. He continued his innings and top scored for his team with a 44 off 34, albeit in a losing cause.

The quality of helmets has been under immense scrutiny ever since the unfortunate incident happened to Phil Hughes. In this case, though, it was clearly the helmet saving the batsman by taking the pace off the ball. Though, the gap between the grille and the lid is something every batsman has to check regularly. Head injury can prove critical hence it is extremely important that helmet manufacturing companies pay detailed attention during the making of this protective gear.

Watch: The ball through the helmet grilles hits Michael Pollard:

Also check out Top 10 Most Deadly Injuries In Cricket