Picture Credit: Twitter/ECB
India's Harleen Deol grabbed one of the most spectacular catches in women's cricket lately to dismiss English batter Amy Jones during the opening T20I at Northampton. While Jones was batting on 43 and was looking to up the ante in the last couple of overs, she played an aerial stroke in an attempt to get six runs. However, Deol grabbed the catch which, in fact, brought an end to Jones' innings. So awe-inspiring was the effort that even the English players took notice and applauded.
Notably, Shikha Pandey, who was trusted for the penultimate over of the innings, bowled a fuller length delivery hoping to get it in the blockhole. Although she didn't miss her target by much, it seemed like Jones had cleared the long off boundary. However, Deol, who was positioned at the wide long off region, not only got both hands to the ball but managed to flick it up before the momentum took her over the boundary line and then jumped in to complete the catch while still in air.
Check out the jaw-dropping effort here:
Catch of the year for me: Sachin Tendulkar
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar too took to Twitter and applauded Harleen's efforts. He termed the grab by Herlin as "Catch of the Year".
Despite Harleen's effort, India could not be the happier side on the night as they lost to the hosts by 18 runs (DLS method). While the England batters managed 177/7, batting first, thanks to a half-century from Natalie Sciver, in response India had managed 54/3 in 8.3 overs before rain no longer made play possible. Natalie Sciver was the star performer for the Three Lions as she made 55 from just 27 deliveries.