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SA wicketkeeper de Kock misses Marsh stumping due to bee sting

Related Story: Beekeeper's dash to the Wanderers saves the day after bees interrupt ODI match

One of the most captivating Test cricket series in years has generated another talking point.

With the second day of the fourth Test coming to a close in Johannesburg, South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock seemingly missed a prime chance to stump Australia batsman Shaun Marsh, who was on 15 at the time.

External Link: ABC Grandstand tweet: 'Stumping chance MISSED! Shaun Marsh comes down the track, misses everything, but De Kock can't complete the stumping. And word is, he was STUNG BY A BEE at the very moment of reckoning.'

The floating last delivery of the 31st over from spinner Keshav Maharaj beat Marsh, who had come down the pitch, and slipped through de Kock's legs and down to third man for a bye.

Commentators Shane Warne and Mark Nicholas originally thought Marsh may have got an edge, leaving de Kock unable to react in time.

But the gloveman was clutching his upper arm.

The same eagle-eyed South African television camera operators who caught Cameron Bancroft ball-tampering during the third Test, showed it was in fact a bee which had stung de Kock on his left arm at the exact moment as the stumping opportunity.

The footage shows de Kock flicking away the bee through his gloves and trying to remove the sting.

Maharaj still managed to dismiss Marsh, with the batsman nicking it to first slip four overs later.

Retired Australian spinner Warne could not believe an insect prevented the stumping.

"Goodness me," Warne said.

"What? Surely he hasn't been stung at that time. Surely he hasn't been stung as the stumping chance comes."

In a series which has already delivered overexuberant wicket celebrations, stairwell confrontations between the teams over sledging, crowds taunting David Warner's wife with masks and a Kagiso Rabada shoulder on Steve Smith, as well as the well documented fallout from the ball tampering, a bee sting preventing a dismissal is just another element.

Plan bee required at stadium

Groundsman tries to get rid of bees at the Wanderers

It was not de Kock's first run-in with bees at the same stadium, with play suspended during a Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka in February 2017 due to a bee infestation.

South Africa's fielders, as well as Sri Lanka's batsmen and the umpires, were forced to lie flat on their bellies as they waited for the bees to pass.

Bees swarmed de Kock's helmet, which was on the ground, and a beekeeper with a box of honey was called in to remove them.

An earlier attempt to disperse them using a fire extinguisher had failed.

Bees swarm around Quinton de Kock's cricket helmet

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