Overview
- BBL video showed captain Will Sutherland signaling Rizwan off at the end of the 18th over with the batter on 26 off 23, making him the first overseas player recorded as retired out in league history.
- The decision was a tactical attempt to lift the run rate at the death, but Melbourne Renegades managed only 16 more runs to finish 170/8, and Sutherland was run out for 1.
- Rain reduced Sydney Thunder’s chase to a DLS target of 140 in 16 overs, and they won by four wickets with four balls to spare after late hitting from Nic Maddinson and Chris Green.
- Rizwan’s BBL returns stand at 167 runs in eight innings with a strike rate around 102 and no fifties, with his first six of the season arriving only after 152 balls faced.
- Reactions were polarized: commentators and former players such as Mark Waugh, Isa Guha, Shane Watson and Jason Gillespie broadly backed the call, while many fans criticized it as humiliating, fueling discussion on the tactic’s place in T20.