But off the pitch, everyone was taken aback by the reaction of prominent pundit and former captain Nasser Hussain, whose post went viral like wildfire in a jungle. Notably, the funny incident that occurred inside the commentary box was corroborated by Michael Atherton, a former cricket player for England, who was commentating live.
Due to poor light during the third Test at The Oval, when Sri Lanka was batting in their opening innings, pacer Chris Woakes became an offspinner for England. This led to a chain of events on the ground as everyone became confused by the abrupt change and discovered a pacer bowling in a new avatar.
When Joe Root, a former England captain and mainstay, thought it was funny that his buddy was settling for non-traditional bowling, at which he was not very skilled, the reactions went viral. This wasn’t the end, either. Observing a frontline bowler being forced to bowl spin, Ben Stokes, the injured regular captain of the Test team, was seen shell-shocked and in complete disbelief in the balcony area.
Hussain, who was also on the air, described the Woakes bowling spin moment as a “bolt from the blue” and almost toppled over in his chair.
“Nasser nearly toppled over at the remark section. The impact of Chris Woakes’ off-spin,” Atherton informed the audience during the broadcast, bringing light to the humorous incident.
However, it wasn’t immediately thought of that Nasser Hussain would fall out of his chair. In an attempt to provide levity throughout the Test, Atherton pulled a sly joke in which he suggested that Woakes’ peculiar bowling ability would have a strange effect on the latter.
Check out the viral Nasser Hussain moment here:
😭😭😭 https://t.co/vWryrfh8Co pic.twitter.com/klIOj1BuBW
— Westen (@Wessy_x) September 7, 2024
On Day 3, England defeats Sri Lanka by 263 runs.
Speaking about the match, on Day Two of the third Test, England finished their first innings with 325 runs. With a brilliant century (154 off 156 runs) that set the tone for the squad and helped the hosts to a reasonable total, Ollie Pope, the team’s acting captain, emerged as the best batsman. Pope, in particular, came under fire for failing to score runs after taking on leadership duties in Stokes’ absence.
Also Read: Former England opener Micheal Atherton praises Ollie Pope for playing ‘courageous innings under scrutiny’
In spite of this, England won the first two Tests of the current Test series against Sri Lanka with considerable ease. After two early blows from Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, with the score at 35/2, England is now leading by 97 runs in the eighth over of the second innings. England’s pacers got the initiative and promptly finished up Sri Lanka, bundling the visitors for 263 runs early in the morning.
India
