Ashes 2023 | Twitter in splits as English crowd gets behind Starc's mock appeal after hitting 'bullseye'

England seized control of proceedings on Day 3 of the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval as some fluent batting saw them tally a lead of over 350 runs with three wickets still in hand. The Australians had little cause for celebration across the three sessions of play but Mitchell Starc did manage to find a spark of joy late in the day even as a stoic Jonny Bairstow looked on without much amusement.

The left-arm quick was bowling the 73rd over and on the second ball, he had a DRS review for an LBW appeal return negative results as the replays showed Bairstow had edged the Dukes onto his pads, leading to a loud cheer from the crowd. Starc ran in undeterred on the next delivery and this time banged the ball in a bit shorter, eliciting a pull from the batter. However, Bairstow missed the red cherry all hands up and the ball struck him right in between the seam of the points, making an impact with his guard box. 

Even though Bairstow showed no reaction, the sheer accuracy with which the ball hit the 'target' led to another huge roar from the crowd, only this time they were the ones appealing. Starc's face eventually broke out into a wide grin as he raised both his arms in mock appeal along with the crowd, leading to a hilarious moment. Incidentally, the 33-year-old had Bairstow caught behind the very next ball for a stellar 78, provoking Twitterati to go into overdrive.

What an appeal!

Owned him

Great

LOL

Beauty of cricket

Superb

Perfect

Dominant

About time

Lazy