He was eventually dismissed by Pat Cummins on 44.
South African batter David Bedingham has opened up about the “handled-the-ball” incident after stumps of the second day’s play in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final. During the final over before the lunch break for the WTC Final 2025 at the Lord’s Stadium, Bedingham inside-edged a Beau Webster delivery, which stuck into the flap of his pad. The 31-year-old reacted fast to throw the ball on the field as Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey also rushed to catch it in his gloves before it hit the ground.
The event took place when the Proteas batter was at 31 off 91 with South Africa’s score line of 113/5. Bedingham revealed that he panicked at that moment. However, the on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Chris Gaffaney immediately called the ball dead.
“I think I panicked big time. Because Carey was standing up, he was quite close. The umpires said, regardless, it was dead ball. But I think the way I picked up the ball and dropped it came across a bit dodgy,” said Bedingham.
The Aussies appealed for a review to dismiss the batter but pulled back from it later. Captain Pat Cummins also mentioned that they would have taken back the appeal even if the umpires had not declared it a dead ball. The Proteas batter also acknowledged the Aussies for withdrawing the appeal. He revealed that the Australian slip cordon, including Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja, suggested he leave the matter and concentrate on his game. He went on to score 45 runs off 111 balls before his dismissal to a Cummins delivery.
“I’m just glad they withdrew the appeal because there [would be] more controversy and that type of stuff. I’m glad nothing happened out of it, really. The slip cordon just told me, ‘don’t panic, just leave it’. But in the moment, I think I panicked big-time,” he explained.
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However, a similar incident took place in 2023 at the Lord’s when Carey dismissed England batter Jonny Bairstow in an unusual manner. Bairstow was walking out of his crease after each ball, and the Aussie keeper took advantage of it. The event caused a huge row as all the Aussie players faced a huge backlash from the MCC members. Eventually, Australia defeated England by 43 runs. England skipper Ben Stokes also stated that he would not want to win a match in a manner that harms the spirit of the game.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, who is yet to lose a Test match in his leadership so far, chose to bowl first in this ultimate red-ball clash. Ace pacer Kagiso Rabada’s fifer and a three-wicket haul from Marco Jansen helped them bundle out Australia for 212 runs. However, the Proteas could not capitalise on the advantage. Skipper Cummins’ six-wicket haul thrashed their batting line-up for just 138 runs and gained a lead of 74 runs on that low total.
Notably, three-wicket hauls from Rabada and Lungi Ngidi in the second innings brought the Proteas back into the game. The summit clash is now hanging in the balance as the defending champions will start the third day with 144/8 on the scoreboard and a 218-run lead. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon will resume the play on 16 off 47 and 1 off 4, respectively.
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