Manish Pandey pulled off an amazing catch on the boundary and showed why fitness is given importance in Virat Kohli’s young team. Pandey was fielding in the long off region in the 48th over. Peter Handscomb was looking to accelerate in order to take Australia past the 300 run mark. Handscomb took the aerial route on the fifth ball of the over, looking to hit the ball over long on for a maximum and almost succeeded in doing that. Pandey was gearing up to catch the ball as it was approaching him in the long off position.
Pandey took the catch at first but knew that he was losing balance and might see himself stepping over the ropes. Pandey in one quick motion threw the ball back in the air and stepped outside the ropes. He had his eyes on the ball, Pandey kept his balance intact and came from outside the boundary and caught the ball inside the ropes and completing the catch. The replays showed that Pandey had taken a clean catch.
Handscomb was stunned by the effort as he got out for just 3 runs from 7 balls. He could not make much difference replacing Mathew Wade in the team as he could not deliver and convert the foundation he got into a big score and succumbed under pressure. Bumrah bagged his second wicket in the match and adding another wicket to his death overs bowling statistics.
Pandey’s balancing act at the boundary ropes https://t.co/jGyZSkTqFE #BCCI
— Cricket-atti (@cricketatti) September 24, 2017
Pandey was given another chance in the middle over despite not being able to deliver in the series so far. Though he did well on the Sri Lanka tour under pressure replacing KL Rahul in the team.
Indian bowlers made a comeback in the first innings after centurion Aaron Finch got out. They were able to restrict Australia below 300 as everyone anticipated a score of 330-350 because of the foundation they got, thanks to Finch and Steven Smith.
