The cricket fraternity has seen exceptional and scintillating fielding efforts during the passage of the play. While we have seen acrobatic and flying catches inside the 30-yard circle, we have also seen more such instances outside the circle as well. However, one that stands out the most is the efforts by fielders carried out near or close to the boundary rope.
When a fielder is stationed at the boundary rope, he needs to make sure that he is well aware of his surroundings. By doing so, he would be able to take the catch cleanly. At times, there will be a situation where he would have to make the call of either taking the catch or making a desperate attempt to save a certain six.
During the fifth match of the SA20 League between Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Durban Super Giants, the onlookers witnessed a jaw-dropping fielding effort by Sunrisers Eastern Cape fielder Tom Abell. His extraordinary effort was so good not just the commentators but the fans were in complete awe. Nevertheless, his effort went in vain as the officials signalled ‘six’ after finding conclusive evidence.
Tom Abell’s world-class effort to save a certain six goes in vain
During the third ball of the 18th over of Durban Super Giants, JJ Smuts, who was batting on 69 attempted to smash a maximum off Daniel Worrall’s delivery. Since Worrall took the pace off, the right-handed batter decided to clear the boundary with one big hit behind the square leg. As it turned out, it looked like the ball was quite comfortably travelling for a flat six in the first place before Tom Abell’s mind-blowing effort.
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While everyone was almost convinced that the fielder made a flawless effort to save a certain six, the cameras zoomed the fielder’s activity before he touched the ball. The replays suggested the fielder had touched the rope before he timed his jump to perfection to save a certain. According to the laws of the sport, the fielder mustn’t touch the boundary rope before making any contact with the ball.
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Since the third umpire had conclusive evidence, he signaled it a six, which was a huge disappointment for Tom Abell as his effort went in vain. Talking about the game, Durban Super Giants posted a mammoth total of 225/3 in their quota of 20 overs as Smuts top-scored with 75 off 38 balls (4 fours and 7 sixes). In response, Sunrisers Eastern Cape could muster 190/9 as they went on to lose the game by 35 runs.
