Watch: D’arcy Short, the Australia batsman, claimed a fantastic return catch off his bowling during his side Hobart Hurricanes’ game against Brisbane Heat in BBL 2020/21.

Bowling his second over and the 11th of the innings overall, Short, the left-arm wrist-spinner, sent down an overpitched delivery to Tom Cooper, who ferociously struck the ball back. As the ball flew out of the bat, the bowler showed tremendous reflexes, stretching his left hand out and calmly pouching the return with one hand.

The umpire walked away, possibly thanking his stars as Short’s teammates converged around him. Cooper walked off with a look of disbelief on his face.

Slow-motion replays only made the catch look better, capturing how Short coolly cushioned the blow as the ball settled into his hand, and walked off with a cheeky smirk on his face.

Short ended with figures of 3-18 from his four overs, but the brilliant spell wasn’t enough to halt Heat’s charge, who cruised to the 149-run target with 16 balls to spare.

Michael Hussey, the on-air commentator, called it an ‘unbelievable catch’. Have a look at it yourself:

The definition of 'plucked out of thin air' …pic.twitter.com/oef5Ti1QdL

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 27, 2020