Hours after New Zealand’s Martin Guptill took one of the best catches of the ICC World Cup 2019 to dismiss Australia’s Steve Smith, the former Australia captain took a blinder to send Guptill’s teammate Tom Latham back to the hut in the second innings.
The crowd at Lord’s was left mesmerized when Smith took an airborne one-handed catch to send off Latham during Australia’s World Cup clash with New Zealand in Birmingham on Saturday.
Latham, who came in to bat in the 26th over after New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson’s departure, fell to Mitchell Starc after scoring 14 runs off the 28 balls he faced before getting out to a screamer from Smith.
On the third ball of the 36th over bowled by Mitchell Starc, the wicketkeeper-batsman tried to flick the ball into the deep-midwicket region without bothering to keep the ball down. The flying ball’s trajectory was cut short by an airborne Steve Smith who dived to his right in the blink of an eye to send the southpaw back to the pavilion. The Lord’s crowd was stunned by the acumen exhibited by the 30-year-old.
Two incredible reflex catches! 🙌🙌
Which did you like best – Smith or Guptill?#CmonAussie | #BACKTHEBLACKCAPS | #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/CYOabtMCqu— ICC (@ICC) June 29, 2019
Earlier in the day, a fiery spell by Trent Boult, including a hat-trick, restricted the Aussies to a modest total of 243 but the Kiwi batsmen failed to cash in the opportunity and were wrapped up for 157.
New Zealand have 11 points from 8 matches and have almost made it to the semi-finals. But they need to win their last match against England on 3 July to avoid any twist in the tale. Australia, on the other hand, have 14 points from 8 matches and have confirmed a berth for either of the top two positions. Australia will now face South Africa next on 6 July.