Watch: Steve Smith dived full length to his right at first slip and went completely airborne to catch Hardik Pandya in the second India-Australia ODI in Vizag today (March 19).
Mitchell Starc had blown away the India top order with four wickets in his first five overs on a pitch that was assisting seamers for a second consecutive time. At 48-1, the Indian captain Hardik Pandya walked out to bat and crunched a straight drive off his very first ball against Starc. That would have given the Indian camp some much-needed confidence.
It didn’t last long though. Sean Abbott came on for his second over from the other end and got one to nip off a back of a length. Hardik had come out with positive intent and pushed hard at it from the crease, only to get a thick outside edge.
Smith, after having juggled a relatively easier catch off Rohit Sharma at the same position, had no intentions of letting this one go. He dived full length to his right, went completely airborne, and plucked his right arm out to grab the ball out of thin air, leaving India in further tatters, at 49-5.
