Australia captain Pat Cummins and wicket-keeper batter Alex Carey were beneficiaries of 5 overthrows on the fourth day of the second Test match against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today. In a rare incident, Cummins and Carey didn’t enjoy the benefit of a quintessential boundary. Instead, they literally ran five runs between the wickets.
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It all happened on the third delivery of the 75th over when Cummins nicely drove an Aamer Jamal delivery between point and cover to run a couple of runs. Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali, chasing the ball from point, had put in a commendable dive before throwing the ball back to the non-striker’s end.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, however, erred at collecting the ball which further allowed Cummins and Carey to accumulate more runs. With Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq not giving up on the chase, the two batters ran three more runs to result in a combined rarity of 5 overthrows. Reaching near the stumps from mid-on, Afridi wasn’t entirely at fault as Ali’s throw had also landed in an awkward position.
Such hilarious instances of on-field mistakes aren’t novel to the Pakistani cricket team. Barring several dropped catches on this tour, they somehow manage a way to put on display debacles by either not attempting to stop the ball or providing similar overthrows.
Have you seen this before? An all-run FIVE (with help from overthrows, of course)! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/gHxwJih45d
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 29, 2023
Australia, who needed to accumulate more and more runs in order to strengthen their lead, found an asset in the form of Carey’s sixth Test half-century. Last Australian batter to be dismissed in the second innings earlier in the day, Carey scoring 53 (101) was pivotal to the hosts setting Pakistan a 317-run target.
