On Day 2 of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, England needed a strong start following Australia’s dominant performance on Day 1, where they ended at 339/5 by stumps. Stuart Broad rose to the occasion and provided the perfect beginning by dismissing Alex Carey in the second over of the day.
However, it was not a straightforward dismissal, despite Broad’s customary celebratory appeal right after the ball hit Carey’s back leg. On-field umpire Ahsan Raza did not give the out, assuming the ball would have missed the stumps.
When considering whether to challenge the decision, Stokes had the same uncertainty in his mind. Nevertheless, Broad managed to convince him to go for the review, and the replay revealed that the ball had deviated off the wobble seam from Broad, causing it to jag back into Carey before striking his back leg.
Moreover, the replay indicated that the ball would have grazed the top of the leg stump, resulting in three reds on the screen. A wave of elation swept through the Lord’s crowd when the decision was overturned.
The 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 start to the day! 👌 #EnglandCricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/78yy6z9mFw
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 29, 2023
Broad, along with his English teammates, leaped with joy at securing such a prized wicket early on. Even those on Twitter were astounded by the turn of events, as Broad, who isn’t typically seen as reliable with the Decision Review System (DRS), had made a successful one this time.