The cricket fraternity has witnessed several rare and unusual dismissals over the years. Interestingly, these rare dismissals add an element of intrigue to the game when they do happen. Recently, during the BBL 2023-24 match between Adelaide Strikes and Hobart Hurricanes, a batsman was dismissed without facing a delivery, which is seen as the first-ever dismissal in the history of Australia’s premier T20 competition.
When a batsman gets dismissed without facing a delivery, then it is called a “diamond duck”. For the record, a diamond duck can happen when a batter is run out or dismissed by a strategy other than facing a ball on the very first ball of an inning. This would usually happen from the non-striker’s end. However, one must know that a batter could get dismissed for a diamond duck, courtesy of a wide ball on the striker’s end too.
Nikhil Chaudhary gets dismissed without facing a delivery in BBL 2023-24
During the third ball of the seventh over of Hobart Hurricanes’ innings, Adelaide Strikers’ right-arm leg break bowler, Cameron Boyce tricked Nikhil Chaudhary by bowling a wide delivery. Meanwhile, the right-handed batsman was desperate to add runs to the scoreboard when the team’s scoring rate was just less than 6 runs an over. As it turned out, he paid the price for stepping down the track, only to be stumped out without facing a delivery, thereby becoming the first player in BBL to be dismissed for a diamond duck.
How's that glovework from Carey! 😍
Chaudhary goes by the barest of margins! #BBL13 pic.twitter.com/92fh0eYUiD
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 9, 2024
It was such a clever tactic by Boyce to bowl such sort of a delivery, which reaped the team a reward at the right time. Adelaide Strikers’ wicketkeeper Alex Carey was sharp behind the stumps as he collected the ball before rapidly whipping the bails off to effect a stumping. Nikhil Chaudhary made his way back to the dressing room without facing a ball. This incident reminds us of Virat Kohli’s wicket in the zeroth delivery of his T20I career.
Virat Kohli got rid of England’s Kevin Pietersen by bowling a wide ball in a T20I match in 2011. Thus, he became the only bowler to take a wicket on the ‘zeroth’ delivery of his T20I career. Kohli who bowled for the first time in T20Is, cleverly bowled a wide ball to Pietersen and the latter stepped down the track intending to hit the ball but only to be stumped by MS Dhoni.
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Talking about the BBL 2023-24 match, Hobart Hurricanes mustered 165/7 in 20 overs, courtesy of Ben McDermott’s sensational 95 off 61 (7 fours and 5 sixes). On the contrary, Adelaide Strikers chased down the target with four balls to spare and won the game by 5 wickets. Skipper Matthew Short top-scored with 45 off 32 balls including 2 fours and 3 sixes.