Sport - Cricket

Flynn misses century

DUNEDIN (New Zealand): Daniel Flynn made his highest Test score on the opening day of the first Test between New Zealand and the West Indies on Thursday before becoming the victim of Test cricket’s new video review rules.

Flynn top-scored with 95 as New Zealand reached 226 for four after opting to bat on a mild pitch at the University Oval, with play ending an hour before schedule due to bad light.

Flynn had batted almost four hours, and was approaching his first hundred when he was the subject of a leg-before appeal by Gayle. It was turned down by the on-field umpire Amiesh Saheba, but the West Indies captain then had the option of calling for a second opinion. The two-Test series between New Zealand and the West Indies is just the second in cricket history to use the Umpire Referral System, allowing both the batting and bowling sides to submit contentious decisions to the television umpire for review.

Television umpire Rudi Koertzen of South Africa, who was also involved in that India-Sri Lanka series, reviewed the decision from several replay angles.

He first determined the ball had struck Flynn in line with the stumps; he took a side-on delivery to satisfy himself the ball was not passing over the stumps and then returned to a head-on shot which suggested the ball was going to hit.

Koertzen relayed his decision to Saheba, who crossed his arms in front of his chest to show his initial decision had been overturned and raised his finger to indicate Flynn’s dismissal. — AP

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