Hardik Pandya the vicecaptain of Team India pulled off a mesmerizing juggling catch to dismiss Australian allrounder Marcus Stoinis in the Super 8 fixture of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Monday June 24. The Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia is currently hosting this exhilarating encounter.
The incident occurred on the first ball of the fifteenth over. Axar Patel delivered a flat delivery outside off-stump, prompting Stoinis to unleash a reverse sweep. The ball was hit hard and went directly to Hardik Pandya at backward point. The ball slipped out of the Hardik Pandya’s grasp at first, but he caught it on the second attempt.
Watch Hardik Pandya Brilliant Juggling Catch clip here:
Its quite remarkable how Marcus Stoinis struggles when facing Axar Patel the leftarm spinner. Out of their eight encounters Stoinis could only muster 22 runs from 40 deliveries maintaining a meager average of 5.50 at a strike rate of 55. Its worth noting that Axar Patel has proven to be a tough nut to crack for the Aussie cricketer dismissing him a total of four times.
Jasprit Bumrah removes Travis Head to put India back in the contest
After challenging Australia to chase 206 for a spot in the semi-finals, Arshdeep Singh gave India an early advantage by dismissing David Warner cheaply. However, the Men in Blue’s reoccurring nightmare, Travis Head, quickly neutralized Jasprit Bumrah.
The Australians made easy runs and appeared to be at ease in the chase, with Head looking particularly dangerous. A bowling change by Rohit Sharma, which saw Bumrah return for another burst, paid off for the inaugural T20 World Cup victors.
The ace speedster bowled a change-of-pace delivery that beat Head because to his lack of speed. The southpaw was only able to get a thick outside edge, giving Rohit an easy catch at covers.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade followed suit shortly after, reducing Australia to 153/6 in 17.1 overs, with Tim David and Pat Cummins in the middle.
