Tristan Stubbs' Elbow Catch Overturned After Review in The Hundred
Tristan Stubbs thought he had pulled off one of the catches of the season. Instead, he was left fuming.
During Southern Brave's match against Manchester Super Giants in The Hundred — the 100-ball-per-side competition that condenses cricket into fast, tactical bursts — Stubbs snared a catch with his elbow. The ball stuck, or so it seemed. The umpires sent it upstairs for review, and the television officials ruled it not out, deciding the ball had not been fully under control. Stubbs' reaction said it all: visible frustration at a moment he believed had been stolen from him and his side. (BBC Sport)
In cricket, a catch must be taken cleanly — the ball held in the hand or hands, not trapped against the body with the help of an arm or elbow. The third umpire, who reviews slow-motion replays in a booth off the field, has the authority to overturn the on-field call if the footage does not show a clean grab. That is exactly what happened here.
The match took place in Southampton, where Southern Brave play their home fixtures. Stubbs, the South African batter, has been a Brave player in The Hundred since the competition's early editions and continues to feature for them in the 2026 season. (The Hundred)
The 2026 Hundred campaign has already delivered moments for Stubbs to chew over. In Southern Brave's opening match of the men's tournament against Welsh Fire on July 22, the Brave stumbled to 70-4 — a precarious position in a format where every delivery carries weight. Stubbs himself was dismissed in that game, caught by Ben Kellaway. (BBC Sport) Southern Brave also faced MI London at the Utilita Bowl on July 27, part of a packed early-season schedule. (ESPNcricinfo)
What makes the elbow-catch incident stand out is the rarity of the dismissal route itself. Fielders usually pouch catches with their fingers or cupped palms. An elbow take belongs to the category of instinctive, reactive grabs — the kind a player commits to in a split second when the ball is flying past at pace. For it to be reviewed and overturned adds another layer of frustration, because Stubbs had no time to think about how the ball was coming to rest. He reacted, it stuck, and the letter of the law said no.
For fans less familiar with the review system, the process is straightforward: the on-field umpire makes a soft signal (their initial judgement of whether the catch was clean), and the third umpire checks multiple camera angles to confirm or overturn. The soft signal carries some weight, but clear evidence either way is what ultimately decides the call.
The Hundred's condensed format — each team faces 100 deliveries, fewer than even a T20 match — means margins are thin and individual moments loom large. A dropped or overturned catch can shift momentum in a game where there is little time to recover. Stubbs and Southern Brave will move on to the next fixture, but the sight of a fielder convinced he had taken a blinder, only to see it struck from the scorecard, is one that lingers.
