By Suhrid Barua
Catches win matches and the 2011 World Cup was witness to some stunning catches. Here’s a look at some of the best catches of the big-ticket event.
Kieren Pollard - West Indies vs Ireland at Nagpur
The tall West Indian is known more for his big-hitting skills but he showed his fielder prowess against Ireland, plucking an absolute blinder at long-off off the bowling off Darren Sammy, to get rid of another big-hitter Kevin O’Brien at a crucial juncture of the game.
Pollard ran in from the deep and timed his dive to near-perfection and grabbed it – a catch that revives memories of Ajay Jadeja pulling off a similar stunner to dismiss Allan Border during the 1992 World Cup match in Brisbane.
Nathan McCullum - New Zealand vs Sri Lanka at Mumbai
Nathan McCullum pouched a ripper of a catch off his own bowling against Mahela Jayawardene but the catch was disallowed as the third umpire Amesh Saheba was convinced that the ball had hit the ground after it was referred.
It was a sight to see - McCullum flew to his right and got his palms under it even as the ball was dying on him after the batsman offered a defensive shot to a delivery that stopped a bit on him.
Munaf Patel - India vs England at Bangalore
Munaf Patel is never considered as one of the agile fielders in the Indian team but he surprised all and sundry at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium with a superb catch to dismiss Kevin Pietersen off his own bowling.
The lanky bowler put his hands to a full-blooded shot from Pietersen, more as a way to save his face than catch it even while slipping to the ground. The ball popped up of his palm and Munaf grabbed it with his left hand to effect a crucial breakthrough after KP blazed his way to a quickfire 31.
Brett Lee - Australia vs Pakistan at Colombo
Brett Lee produced something out of the ordinary when he plotted the exit of Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez. Lee came up with a zippy delivery and induced a leading edge of Hafeez after the batsman had closed the face of the bat early and attempted to work a straight ball through mid-wicket. Lee rushed out of his follow-through and plucked a wonderful catch.
Robin Peterson - South Africa vs England at Chennai
Robin Peterson took a magnificent catch to get rid of Ian Bell of his own bowling. The left-arm spinner, opening the bowling for South Africa, beat Bell all ends up with a flighted ball. Bell gave Peterson the charge but tried to check his shot when he realised he was not to the pitch of the ball – spooning a catch which the bowler gobbled diving to his left.
Mahela Jayawardene - Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe at Colombo
Mahela Jayawardene has one of safest pair of hands at slips and he only enhanced that potential, snapping up a brilliant catch to dismiss Greg Lamb of the bowling of Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Jayawardene exuded superb reflexes and put out his left hand to take a catch after the edge of Lamb’s bat flew between the wicketkeeper and slip.
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