Watch: Kane Williamson ran backwards and took a fine diving catch in his comeback game from injury to dismiss Abdullah Shafique during Pakistan’s run-chase at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru today (November 4).
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Put in to bat first in a rare day ODI in Bengaluru, New Zealand piled on a mountain of runs. Pakistan went in with an all-seam attack with no specialist spinner and it backfired. New Zealand, meanwhile, were bolstered by the return of their skipper Kane Williamson, who had to sit out for a few games due to a fractured thumb.
Rachin Ravindra scored his third hundred of the World Cup, while Williamson was solid as ever, scoring 95 off 79 balls. Handy contributions from the middle order where each one of Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, and Mitchell Santner went past 25, meant that New Zealand finished with 401-6 from their 50 overs.
Pakistan’s position in the points table meant they have to chase the target down within 35.3 overs if they are to overtake New Zealand and jump up to fourth.
Driven by necessity, they tried to start the run-chase in an aggressive manner. It resulted in an early wicket in the form of Shafique, who tried to go over the off side against Tim Southee, but couldn’t get the timing right. Williamson, who was standing at mid-off, ran back 17 meters and then dived nearly full-length to take a stunning catch to dismiss the right-hander for four off nine balls in the second over.
While Williamson has always been an exceptional fielder, the fact that he is coming off the back of a thumb fracture and still has a thick taping over his left thumb made this effort all the more special.
Watch Kane Williamson take stunning diving catch while running backwards:
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