Australia’s middle-order batsman Matthew Wade and West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard found themselves in the middle of an intense drama as the two locked horns with each other in the last One Day International of the three-match series. Wade delivered a standout performance in the do-or-die match to help Australia comfortably chase the target of 153.
The wicketkeeper-batsman played a sublime knock of 51 runs off 52 deliveries. His knock was laced with five boundaries and two maximums at a strike rate of 98.08. However, Wade would have been forced to walk back to the pavilion earlier in the match had Pollard decided to Mankad him.
During one of his two overs during the match, Pollard had a perfect opportunity to dismiss Wade by dislodging the stumps at the bowlers’ end. However, the all-rounder decided against Mankading and simply issueda warning to Wade to not step out of the field. One noteworthy point here is that Pollard resorted to bowling off-spinners during the last ODI against Australia instead of his regular medium-pace deliveries.
Very kind of Pollard lol pic.twitter.com/KbfsME2ZCS— Did Aus win? (@Pacebouncy) July 26, 2021
Though Pollard decided against Mankading Wade, the West Indies skipper became a victim of social media trolling. The replay of the entire scenario suggests that Pollard intentionally slowed down his pace and waited for the Australian batsman to make an exit from the crease.
After the nervy match, Wade opened up on the heated altercation with the opposition skipper saying that it was just friendly banter. The 33-year-old added that the entire situation was good banter stuff and there is nothing to keep grudges about. He further reckoned that he knows Pollard for a long time.
“I didn’t expect him to bowl off-spin. I thought he’d come off the long run and bowl cutters as he has been. But it was just good banter stuff. It was just a bit of friendly banter and I was just letting him know it was probably my last game for Australia in one-day cricket," Wade said to Cricket Australia.
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