'WHAT's THIS?': Umpires & Tim Southee baffled by Australia's STRANGE 'one and a half' run tactic

Throughout the NZ vs AUS series, the men from down under have been dominant in their visit. The Trans-Tasmanian rivals have been battling in a Test series, where Australia has been dominating throughout the Test matches. New Zealand failed to capitalize against their foes in the ongoing Test match. But there was a juncture where it looked like the Aussies would fall under a lot of trouble when batter Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood turned down runs to have a chat in the middle of the pitch.  

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Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood spark controversy as they leave out runs and have a chat in the middle

During day two of the morning session in the ongoing NZ vs AUS match, Josh Hazlewood and Cameron Green were mauling the Kiwi defence as they gathered runs, and Australia were in total control of the game. However, the batters engaged in a conversation in the middle of the wicket after making a feeble attempt to take a run. The umpires were chatting with each other about how to handle the strange and humorous scenario. The faux run also left commentators Mark Richardson and Brendon Julian perplexed, who appeared unsure of whether Hazlewood and Green were passing for a run or not.

'Nicely timed down the onside,' Brendan Julian commented. 

But Mark Richardson laughed and said, 'They're not going to run.' 

The former Australian fast bowler stated: 'They actually ran one and stopped in the middle to have a chat; they probably could have got two.'

'The umpires are actually conversing here; they don't know how to deal with this,' the former Black Cap player added. 

'What's this? What's that? Is that one short?

Julian responded, 'They didn't go over the popping crease, so there's nothing.'

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The replay of the moment revealed that neither batsman had made their crease for the initial run, instead pausing for a quick word before turning around and safely heading back to their position for no run.

The event may occasionally be reported to the match referee, and the captain or batsman may receive a fine or suspension. Even though the incident was hilarious, the Australians were lucky not to be slapped with a five-run penalty because that is an unusual use of a game law.