Australian pacer Riley Meredith seems to be doing everything for Somerset in the ongoing T20 Blast, taking wickets, lots of them and even breaking some into half. Meredith, the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 24 scalps to his name, is one of the reasons why Somerset find themselves flying high at the top of the South Group with just two defeats and nine wins in 11 matches. The tearaway Australian quick is in such magnificent form that the stump decided to break itself into two to pay him respect, a scene very rare in any cricket.
The incident took place in the South Group clash against Essex in Taunton on Tuesday, July 8 when Somerset came to defend their 225-run score. In the third over of Essex's innings, Meredith bowled a full-paced low full toss, which Michael Pepper missed and it rammed straight into the edge of the leg-stump. The ball hit one side of the stump, which tore it off from the other side, causing the stump to split vertically into two halves.
Watch the video here:
The stump breaking into two halves, top and bottom, has happened a few times, famously in IPL 2023 when Arshdeep Singh did it twice against the Mumbai Indians in the same match in recent times, but this was rare and the comments on the post reflected that thought.
Meredith also went to dismiss Charlie Allison as well, but it was Matt Henry's four-fer, which scripted Somerset's easy victory over Essex as the visitors were shot out for 130. Apart from Noah Thain, who did his bit with a 17-ball 38, no other Essex batter stayed in the middle for some time to help their side go for the target.
With just one win in 11 games and nine losses, Essex remained at the bottom of the points table in the South Group.
