Picture Credit: Twitter/@CPL
Trinidadian cricketer Akeal Hosein, best known for his left-arm spin bowling, caught the attention of cricket fans worldwide with an absolutely outstanding catch during a Caribbean Premier League match between the Trinbago Knight Riders and the Guyana Amazon Warriors. While the Guyana Amazon Warriors were setting themselves up for a win, chasing 139 runs, they needed 34 runs in the last 3 overs.
What was also in their favour was that the batters out in the middle Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King were looking in good touch and the target seemed well within their reach. But it was Ravi Rampaul's 18th over which turned out to be the game-changing one as he dismissed King off the first delivery. Moreover, it was a special effort from Akeal in the very next ball which saw the back of Pooran.
The southpaw smashed a wide delivery outside the off-stump which for a moment looked set to go over the cover fielder Akeal Hosein for a six. However, Akeal had other ideas as he kept his eyes on the ball, leaped in the air just at the right time and completed the catch with one hand, also making sure that he makes no contact with the boundary ropes behind him.
While the momentum did push Hosein back, he recovered well and grabbed the catch a few millimeters off the boundary. On seeing the completion of the catch, bowler Rampaul's joy knew no bounds as a rather animated celebration began.
Watch the effort from the fielder here:
Despite wickets in the first two balls, Rampual ended up conceding 12 runs in the 18th over. As many as 14 runs were scored in the next over from Isuru Udana and the Warriors needed just eight runs to win in the final over.
Here it was Akeal Hosein who became their saviour again but this time with the ball in hand as he gave away just seven runs to force the match into the Super Over. However, despite his efforts, which saw him concede 16 in his four overs with a wicket and take a splendid catch, Trinbago Knight Riders couldn't win the game. While in the Super Over, Sunil Narine did a fabulous job for the RIders, conceding only six runs and scalping two wickets, in response they managed to score four runs from six balls in an excellent over bowled by Romario Shepherd.