New Zealand were understandably beaten by South Africa in the second Test in Christchurch on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean the hosts didn’t have their share of brilliance in the series-defining final Test match. On Day 4, Will Young made an “outrageous” catch to fire South African pacesetter Marco Jansen. During the 79th over of South Africa’s second innings, Jansen had sent Colin de Grandhomme’s ball into the deep midwicket region.
As the ball seemingly reached a foursome, Young, who had been deployed in that region, came running and made an excellent catch with one hand.
Young stumbled but held onto the ball, leaving commentators and viewers scratching their heads.
New Zealand Cricket is sharing the video of the catch on their official Twitter handle.
Watch: Will Young’s Scandalous Catch in New Zealand vs South Africa 2nd Test
A just outrageous catch of Will Young is our @ANZ_NZ Game of the Day from Hagley Oval! #NZvSA pic.twitter.com/iRWNvriqja
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 28, 2022
South Africa eventually declared their innings at 354/9 after Kyle Verreynne knocked out a 136-run, giving New Zealand a goal of 426.
New Zealand was all out for 227 eight balls after tea on the last day.
It completed a remarkable turnaround for South Africa, which read conditions much better than New Zealand after being thrashed by an innings and 276 runs on the same ground in the first Test.
A century by Sarel Erwee laid the groundwork for a first innings 364, Kagiso Rabada took five for 60 as New Zealand folded 71 overdue and an unbeaten 136 by Kyle Verreynne in the second innings tightened the clamp on New Zealand.
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A disappointed New Zealand captain Tom Latham, who saw the chance of a historic first-series win over South Africa slip away, blamed his batsmen: “Our blueprint is about a big first-innings score on the board if we were able to do things might look a little different,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to build partnerships in the first or second innings.”
(with AFP inputs)
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