The current test series between England and New Zealand has certainly not been lacking in talking points, and it gained another one on Day 1 of the third Test at Headingley when New Zealand batter Henry Nicholls became the victim of one of the most unusual dismissals in the history of the game.
In the 56th over of the game, left-arm spinner Jack Leach was bowling. The event took place during this time. Nicholls made an effort for a straight drive, but the ball ended up going in the direction of Daryl Mitchell. During Mitchell’s attempt to avoid being caught, the ball struck his bat and went into the air, where it was caught by Alex Lees, who was positioned at mid-off.
As the southpaw made his laborious way back to the locker room, it was easy to see the anger that was building up inside of him. But Leach seemed similarly perplexed by the termination, and he was spotted hanging about throughout the event, looking as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. The bowler conveyed his views about the ridiculous wicket while showing sympathy for the batter from New Zealand. However, he said that he would take it regardless of how ridiculous it was.
Jack Leach talks about the wicket of Henry Nicholls
“It was fantastic, I’ve never seen anything like it. I had no idea whether or not you were authorized to do that, but I’ll take every advantage I can get. You deal with more than your fair share of setbacks. It was extremely terrible for Nicholls, but it was very fortuitous for me,” Leach said to the press after the finish of the day’s play.
The difficulty of New Zealand’s top-order batters against the strong fast bowling of England and the resilience of Mitchell and Blundell in the middle order have been the theme of the series thus far. The series is now tied at 1-1.
