Gatting responded by thrusting his left leg forward towards the pitch of the ball, and pushing his bat next to his pad, angled downwards. This was a standard defensive tactic used by most experienced batsmen against leg-spin balls which pitched outside leg stump. The intention is for the ball to hit either the pad or the bat without danger of being out. Because the ball pitched outside the leg stump, the batsman cannot be out leg before wicket, and if the ball spun slightly more than expected, it would hit the bat and rebound safely down to the ground so the batsman cannot be caught.