
Courtesy: SA20/X
Spectators of the ongoing SA20 cricket league match had a trip down memory lane as they witnessed a recap of Herschelle Gibbs' epic drop catch more than 25 years ago. During the Pretoria Capitals' match against Paarl Royals, New Zealand's all-rounder James Neesham grabbed hold of the ball, which was struck towards the boundary rope by Joe Root, but he ended up spilling it while looking to celebrate. The incident was quite similar to Herschelle Gibbs’ epic catch drop in the ODI World Cup 1999.
On the final ball of the fifth over by Jason Behrendroff, the left-arm bowler bowled a short ball that Root pulled to deep square leg. At first, it appeared like the ball would easily cross the boundary rope. However, James Neesham rushed to his right and caught the ball with both hands. But a split second later, as he tried to celebrate, the ball spilled out of his hands, which shocked him and his Pretoria Capitals teammtes. Commentator Pommie Mbangwa on-air remarked, "He's done a Herschelle Gibbs."
Watch the video here:
What did Herschelle Gibbs do in the 1999 match?
During the 1999 Super Six World Cup match between Australia and South Africa, Gibbs' century helped South Africa reach a total of 271 in 50 overs. As the Aussies were at 149/3 in 30 overs, Steve Waugh flicked a Lance Klusener delivery to mid-wicket, where it went straight to Gibbs, but his celebration was short-lived as he let the ball spill out of his hands, costing South Africa badly. Australia won the match and Waugh scored a ton.
James Neesham's catch drop helped Joe Root score his half-century
Similar to Steve Waugh, Joe Root took the missed opportunity by scoring a half century. The England legend was batting on 13 runs when Neesham dropped the catch. Later, he went on to score 78 runs not out. Root's knock helped Paarl Royals to win the match by 11 runs.