Watch: Nick Larkin ‘hides’ the ball and takes a quick run against Sydney Thunders in the BBL 2020.

Melbourne Stars batsman Nick Larkin found himself in the midst of a hilarious dilemma in Saturday’s Big Bash League game against the Sydney Thunders. The 30-year-old Stars batter managed to comically ‘hide the ball’ and tried stealing a quick single; only for the umpires to realize that the ball had lodged inside his T-shirt!

It all happened during the last over of Stars’ batting. Left-arm-quick Daniel Sams pitched a fullish delivery on the middle-stump, which Larkin tried to slash towards the leg-side. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite time his hit and had to settle for running a quick bye. But midway through the run, the umpires stopped him, as they and the Thunders’ fielders couldn’t locate the ball. That’s exactly when the ball popped out of Larkin’s jersey, leaving him and everyone involved in splits.

Ball lands inside Nick Larkin’s t-shirt

Subsequent replays showed that the ball had actually landed right inside the midriff of Larkin’s shirt. It was an innocent mistake; one that the umpires couldn’t do much about other than deeming the ball dead. Funnily enough, Larkin took strike the next ball and was outdone by a slow-yorker from Sams! The whole episode left on-air commentators, Adam Gilchrist and Mark Howard in splits. Here’s the video: 

Despite the comedy of errors, Stars were able to finish on a decent score of 169/8, courtesy of good knocks from Marcus Stoinis (61 off 37) and captain Glenn Maxwell (39 off 29). Sams, Chris Green, and debutant Tanveer Sangha each accounted for 2 scalps while bowling. 

In reply, the Thunders started decently with Alex Hales (46 off 41) and captain Callum Ferguson (54 off 35) laying a strong foundation at the top. But a spirited bowling comeback, led by Hilton Cartwright (2/ 34), Adam Zampa (2/ 10), and first-timer Liam Hatcher (3/28) allowed the men in forest green to walk away with all 4-points from the match.