Watch: David Warner flung himself across the boundary rope to save a certain six during a T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match against Sri Lanka.
Australia lost their first match of the T20 World Cup, against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground, by 89 runs. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, turned things around after going down against Namibia in their tournament opener. They beat the UAE and Netherlands to top their group and qualify for the Super 12. Once there, they beat Ireland with five wickets and five overs in hand, at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
The two teams are now playing at the Perth Stadium. Australia opted to bowl, and Sri Lankan opener, the wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis, tried to pull Pat Cummins in the second over and was caught at mid-wicket for five.
Dhananjaya de Silva joined Pathum Nissanka, and the pair batted cautiously. In the 11th over, Marcus Stoinis bowled a good-length ball on the stumps. Nissanka cleared his front leg off the way, and connected the lofted off-drive well. Warner ran backwards from long-off, kept his eye on the ball, turned around as the ball crossed him, and completed a brilliant catch while facing the boundary.
Having held the catch, however, Warner realised that he was going to tumble over the rope, and threw the ball backwards. “Absolutely brilliant,” uttered Isa Guha on air even as Tim David ran in from long-on to field the returned ball. The cameras then zoomed in on an impressed Stoinis, busy applauding Warner.
Nissanka later fell for a 45-ball 40. A late burst from Charith Asalanka (38 not out in 21 balls) took Sri Lanka to 157-6 in their stipulated 20 overs.
Watch David Warner’s stunning save here:
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