Watch: Will Young takes Ben Stokes-like one-handed screamer; Twitter calls it 'best catch ever seen', NZ greats in awe
New Zealand batter Will Young on Monday pulled off a sensational one-handed catch to dismiss South Africa's Marco Jansen on Day 4 of the second Test between the two teams in Christchurch.
New Zealand batter Will Young on Monday pulled off a sensational one-handed catch to dismiss South Africa's Marco Jansen on Day 4 of the second Test between the two teams in Christchurch. Young's screamer was reminiscent to the stunning one-handed catch Ben Stokes took to dismiss Andile Phehlukwayo of South Africa during the 2019 World Cup at The Oval.
In the 79th over of the South Africa’s second innings, their score read 2019/6 at the Hagley Oval when Jansen clipped a ball off his pads and sent sailing on the leg-side. As the ball seemed to be going for a certain four at least, Young, the only fielder in that region, came running around and plucked the ball out of thin air. He stretched his arms and the ball just stuck. Young took the tumble but safely held on to it, leaving the on-air commentators flabbergasted. Watch the terrific effort below.
An ecstatic Young threw his arms in disbelief before getting mobbed by his teammates. Twitter was shell-shocked at the brilliance of that effort from Young.
"He can't believe it, neither can his teammates. Where has that come from?" former New Zealand batter Craig McMillan said on Spark Sport commentary.
"That is sensational work. It just hung there. Will Young has just plucked that out of nowhere. What a sensational piece of cricket, what a magnificent catch."
West Indies great Ian Bishop called it the catch of the year, believing it will be tough to match this effort from Young. "Hard to beat that Will Young catch in 2022. Exceptional," he tweeted.
South Africa declared their second innings on 354/9, setting New Zealand a target of 426 to win the Test. However, the BlackCaps were reduced to 94/4 with Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj picking up 2 wickets each. The Kiwis need another 332 to win with one day and six wickets remaining.