India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant missed an easy stumping chance during the third and final ODI of the series against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, August 7 at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. The incident took place on the last ball of the 49th over as Maheesh Theekshana danced down the track against Kudleep Yadav.
The Sri Lankan batter failed to connect the ball and got beaten and it went straight into Pant’s gloves. The India wicketkeeper took some time to dislodge the bails which allowed the Sri Lankan batter to come back into the crease. The third umpire took a long look at the replays before making a decision.
The footage revealed that Theekshana managed to ground his bat in the crease before Stumps took the bails. The Sri Lankan batter got his bat in the air just after landing but it didn’t matter as, the rules considers a batter is inside after the first landing.
There was more drama as third umpire Paul Reiffel mistakenly adjudged him out and later corrected his decision. As a result, Theekshana survived as Pant missed an easy stumping chance.
Watch the video here:
Avishka Fernando’s 96 guides Sri Lanka to 248/7
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka won his third consecutive toss of the series and elected to bat first. His decision was vindicated by Avishka Fernando and Pathum Nisssanka who added 89 runs for the first wicket off 119 balls.
Nissanka was dismissed for 45 by Axar Patel but Fernando continued his innings and played a magnificent innings of 96 (102). He unfortunately missed out on his fourth ODI hundred giving debutant Riyan Parag his first wicket in the format. Following his dismissal, Kusal Mendis also played a brilliant innings of 59 (82) with the help of four points. As a result, Sri Lanka posted 248/7 in their allotted 50 overs with Riyan Parag being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/54 in nine overs.