The second day of the ongoing World Test Championship Final (WTC) match saw a very intriguing incident unfold. Just at the stroke of lunch inside the 49th over, South African batter David Bedingham got himself involved in a very tricky situation. The Protea batter came mighty close to being out by handling the ball. But thankfully, the umpires didn't seem to think there was a very strong case of handling the ball and gave the benefit of the doubt to the batter.   

While facing Webster, Bedingham tried to go for the drive, but the sharp inward movement off the seam brushed the inside edge of his bat and later lodged into the flap of his inner pad before nearly popping out. Before Carey could go for the catch, Bedingham removed the ball from his pad and dropped it on the ground. This got the Aussies excited, as a couple of appeals were heard mainly by Khawaja and Smith. The two on-field umpires, Richard Illingworth and Chris Gaffney, converged and eventually decided to turn down the appeal. In Illingworth's opinion, the ball seemed to have been dead before Bedingham handled the ball with his hand, hence the decision to rule him "not out".

See also: Mitchell Starc shatters massive ICC record in WTC Final against South Africa

Bedingham survives a scare at Lord's

A controversy involving the Aussies at Lord's, you say? 😬

The ball didn't seem fully dead before the South African batter handled it... should this have been given out in the #WTCFinal? >> https://t.co/FUwQtegDjU pic.twitter.com/xBICUmvqqs

— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) June 12, 2025

According to the rules laid down by the International Cricket Council and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the ball becomes dead as soon as the ball gets trapped in the batter's clothing or protective equipment, whether played or not.

“The ball becomes dead when whether played or not it becomes trapped between the bat and the person of a batter or between items of his/her clothing or equipment.”

By looking at the given scenario of Bedingham, the ball was deflected off the inside edge of the bat before lodging into his inner pad flap. At first glance, one would say that the on-field umpires arrived at the correct decision. But critics argue that the ball was not entirely dead. This incident has triggered mixed reactions from users on social media, most of whom have claimed that the ball was still moving when Bedingham had willfully removed it with his arm. 

Speaking of the current state of the game, Australian quicks rattled the Proteas immediately after lunch, picking up two quick wickets of Verreynne and Jansen to leave South Africa seven down for 135 with Bendigham unbeaten on 45.