Watch: Tom Blundell flies in front of slip cordon to catch Steve Smith
Watch: In the Wellington Test match, Tom Blundell flew in front of the slip cordon to take an astonishing catch to dismiss Steve Smith.
Tim Southee won the toss and opted to field in the first Test of the two-match series, at the Basin Reserve. The openers, Usman Khawaja (33) and Steve Smith (31), added 61 in the first 24 overs.
Then Matt Henry pitched a ball on a good length on the off stump. Rooted to the crease, Smith reached for it, but the ball found the outside edge and flew towards the slip cordon.
Tom Blundell flung himself towards his right and held the catch with both hands in front of first slip, rolled over, and completed his follow-through in front of the second.
The wicket helped Henry extend his streak of taking at least one wicket in an innings to 21, though he is some distance behind Southee’s New Zealand record of 33. He finished the day with 4-43.
Australia were soon left reeling at 89-4 before Cam Green (103 not out) and Mitchell Marsh (40) added 67 in 77 balls. Barring them and the openers, no one reached 20 as Australia finished the day on 279-9.
Watch Tom Blundell catch Steve Smith in astonishing manner:
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