Top 5 Best Catches in Cricket The proverb ‘catches win matches’ has often been proved in Cricket. Whether it is a t-20 game or One Day or a Test match there is no substitute for catching. Over the years there have been many good catches, and today in this article we list the Top 5. Opinions may vary from person to person, but I believe that in addition to athletics, a good presence of mind and concentration is also necessary for a good catch. 05. Suresh Raina With the advent of the 21st century a new era began in Indian Cricket. Sourav Ganguly’s stoic leadership saw many youngsters in the team who not only improved the existing fielding standards but inspired the future generations to become more physically fit. Among these second batch of cricketers was Suresh Raina. Raina dived back to grab a lightning ball, that was Younis Khan’s shot to get him out at 52 in the Asia Cup in Mar 2012. The delivery was bowled by Pravin Kumar in the final overs of the Pakistani innings. At the time of the delivery Pakistan had amassed a mammoth 323 runs. Raina’s catch helped in the deceleration of the Pakistan innings towards the end. 04. Jonty Rhodes Jonty Rhodes took this catch off a Lance Klusner delivery. The shot hit by Robert Croft of England was going high above Jonty’s head. Realising that he could get only a hand to it, Rhodes raised his left hand to somehow deflect the ball and then as the ball fell after his deflection he caught it. The catch at the time of Rhodes was considered to be the greatest. 03. Angelo Mathews This is probably Sri Lanka’s best catch ever. The shot hit by David Warner was caught very near the ropes by a jumping Mathews. No sooner did he take the catch, he realised that he would run on the ropes. So he threw it out, just in the nick of time to make it a legitimate catch instead of a six. The catch provided an entry into the match for Sri Lanka as Australia were going strong at 72 for just 1 wicket and requiring 85 more runs to win at a run rate of 6.5. The catch was taken off Ajantha Mendis’s bowling. 02. David Hussey The Indian Premier League is often criticised as ruining the longer formats of the game. The critics however fail to mention the awesome contest and the impossible feats of agility the matches in IPL provide. Such an example of agility and presence of mind is this catch. In fact this catch can be considered as a six which was plucked from the air to make it a catch. David Hussey fielding in the long on jumped to try and grab a ball that was hit by Paul Collingwood of Delhi Daredevils. He could not grab it and instead managed to deflect it near him as he jumped right on the edge of the ropes, catching the ball. Realising his inability to keep himself from going over the ropes, Hussey threw the ball up again. And this time when it started falling down he dashed from behind the ropes and took the catch with one hand. 01. Adam Gilchrist This catch brings to the fore the athletics, concentration and presence of mind of Adam Gilchrist. The catch of Marcus Trescothick off a Shane Warne delivery in the 2001 Ashes is the best catch of all. With the scoreboard at 52 for null, Trescothick tried a remodelled sweep, to hit the ball to the cover boundary. Instead he ended up hitting the heel of the fielder at silly point. The ball went up on the rebound, with the fielder in agony. Any other wicketkeeper in such a situation would have been busy watching the fielder, but not Gilly. He realised that the ball had gone up and was on its way down near the silly point. He raced from behind the stumps and jumped near the foot of the fielder to collect the ball just in the nick of time. In this way, he made the best catch in cricket history and sealed his name in the books.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 04:19:53 +0000