Both Birmingham Bears and Nottinghamshire had one tactical retire out each during a North Group T20 Blast 2022 encounter.
The spark lit up by Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Ravichandran Ashwin during the recently concluded IPL 2022 seems to have ignited a fire in T20 Blast, which on Sunday (June 5) witnessed not one but two tactical retire outs.
England’s premier domestic T20 competition saw Birmingham Bears’ Carlos Brathwaite and Nottinghamshire allrounder Samit Patel both voluntarily retiring in the middle of their stay as the situation demanded someone else to take take the innings forward.
The first one in the rain-marred 8-over per side North Group encounter in Edgbaston saw Brathwaite going back to the shed for the final over as the Bears wanted him to avoid a negative match-up versus opposition wristspinner Calvin Harrinson.
Thus, ensuring they didn’t let go a substandard last over to the Notts, the Bears decided to call Brathwaite back, even as he was batting well on 17* off 11 balls.
The hosts sent out Sam Hain to partner Chris Benjamin at the crease. While Hain didn’t even face a ball, Benjamin’s departure earlier in the over brought in Alex Davies, who smashed a critical 14 not out off just 4 balls.
The decision to pull back Brathwaite from the proceedings paid off dividends for Birmingham Bears, who eventually won the 8-over shoot out by just 1 run.
But that wasn’t the only tactical retire out of the night, as the Notts, too, got their thinking cap on when it mattered the most and decided to ask Samit Patel to return to the shed with 3 needed off the final ball in their run-chase.
You cannot make this up! 😂
Samit Patel also retires himself out off the penultimate ball of the match! #Blast22 pic.twitter.com/Q2fPLRe7A5
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) June 5, 2022
You cannot make this up! 😂
Samit Patel also retires himself out off the penultimate ball of the match! #Blast22 pic.twitter.com/Q2fPLRe7A5
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) June 5, 2022
WATCH: Historic move in IPL! Ravichandran Ashwin retired out (not hurt) in first ever incident of tactical substitution
The visiting side opted to send out a more agile runner at the other end with Tom Moores on strike.
Moores, batting 19* off 13 at the time, couldn’t find the middle of the bat on the last one and only managed a single, which paved way for a painful loss for the Notts.
But the idea to pull out Patel and send Harrison in the middle was still a very bright one, as it gave the visitors a tactical edge in case Moores hit the ball in the gap to squeeze in the third one rather than straight to the fielder as he did.
