The Kent vs Somerset County Championship 2023 clash witnessed a bizarre incident on September 22 which left the cricket fans shell-shocked. Somerset batter Lewis Goldsworthy’s bat got broken into pieces while he attempted a shot against pacer Jaskaran Singh and went on to dislodge the stumps leaving the batter disappointed.
Lewis Goldsworthy made a formidable partnership along with Somerset opening batter Tom Lammonby for the second wicket. After the dismissal of Lammonby, Goldworthy continued piling up runs along with Andrew Umeed.
Somerset player’s bat breaks, fragment hits stumps in County Championship 2023
Goldworthy was batting at 79 when Kent pacer Jaskaran Singh bowled a yorker around the off-stump line. The Somerset batter attempted a shot but couldn’t connect properly and a fragment of his bat got broken with the impact of the yorker delivery.
The part of his bat then went back to crash on to the stumps and the batter was left disappointed as he thought he would be given out ‘Hit Wicket’. However, the on-field umpire signalled a no ball as Jaskaran Singh had overstepped and Goldsworthy survived.
Have you ever seen anything like this?
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 21, 2023
Lewis Goldsworthy loses a chunk of his bat which goes on to hit the stumps! Luckily for the Somerset batter it was a no ball from Jas Singh#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/NUyfsCSQbn
Under the Law 35.1.2, “The striker is out Hit wicket if, after the bowler has entered the delivery stride and while the ball is in play, his/her wicket is broken by either the striker’s bat or person as described in Laws 29.2.1.2 to 29.2.1.4 (Breaking the wicket fairly).”
Law 29.2.1.3 states that “the wicket is broken fairly if a bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or a stump is struck out of the ground … by the striker’s bat not in hand, or by any part of the bat which has become detached.”
Lewis Goldsworthy continued his innings on Day 3 of the game against Kent and put his side on the driver’s seat. He eventually scored 122 runs off 203 deliveries including 12 boundaries before getting dismissed by the same bowler Jaskaran Singh.
Andrew Umeed scored 49 runs off 88 deliveries including 8 fours and a maximum while Tom Kohler-Cadmore remained unbeaten after playing a quick-fire knock of 68 runs off just 31 deliveries to increase the run-scoring rate.
The Kent vs Somerset clash has remained affected by rain on all three days and the Kent bowlers have bowled just 86 overs till now. Arafat Bhuiyan, Jaskaran Singh, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Jack Leaning took a wicket each while Somerset have put on a total of 404-4 in 86 overs.