Cricket world explodes as Matthew Wade survives 'obstructing field' dismissal vs England

Australia and England locked horns against each other in the first T20I of their three-match series on Sunday. The match was marred by controversy when England pacer Mark Wood appeared to be blocked from taking a catch by Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade in the 17th over after the latter top-edged a delivery from the bowler. Wade seemingly prevented Wood from taking the catch while running back to the striker's end. England did not appeal the obstruction of the field by Wade and let the incident go unpunished.

Cricket world reacts to Wade-Wood controversy

The cricket world, however, did not seem happy with England's decision to not appeal the obstruction of the field as they took to Twitter to slam both England and Australian players. Former India cricketers Aakash Chopra and Venkatesh Prasad are among those who took to the micro-blogging platform to slam the incident. West Indies legend Ian Bishop also expressed his displeasure with the incident as he called out England for not appealing Wade's tactic.  

"I was looking at the ball the whole time so I wasn't sure what happened. They asked if I wanted to appeal but I thought we're here for a long time in Australia, it would be a risky one to go for so early in the trip," Buttler had said at the post-match presentation. 

Australia vs England, 1st T20I

As far as the game is concerned, Australian captain Aaron Finch chose to field first after winning the toss at Perth Stadium. Batting first, England batsmen Alex Hales and Jos Buttler both put in strong performances to help their side reach a massive 208/6 in 20 overs. Hales hammered 84 off 51 deliveries, while Buttler struck 68 off just 32 balls. Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, and Harry Brook all contributed with the bat, scoring 12, 10, and 13 runs, respectively.

For Australia, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, and Marcus Stoinis each claimed one wicket, while Nathan Ellis picked a three-wicket haul.

England restricted Australia to 200/9 in 20 overs in the second innings. Sam Curran took two wickets in the final over to successfully defend 16 runs. At one point, Australia appeared to be in good shape to chase down the enormous score when David Warner and Marcus Stoinis were cruising easily. Mark Wood, however, got rid of Warner and Stoinis for 73 and 35 runs, respectively. With three wickets to his name, Wood was England's pick of the bowler. Hales was named the player of the match for his brilliant batting performance.

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