Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again showed why he is regarded as one of India’s brightest young prospects, pulling off a sensational acrobatic catch during India A’s Tri-Nation Series clash against Afghanistan A at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Wednesday, June 17.
The stunning moment came in the sixth over of the Afghanistan innings when Anshul Kamboj bowled a back-of-a-length delivery to Khalid Taniwal. Looking to accelerate, Taniwal went for an aggressive shot on the leg side, but failed to get the required elevation. The ball travelled quickly towards Sooryavanshi, who initially seemed to have completed a routine catch.
However, the youngster briefly lost control of the ball as it popped out of his hands. What followed was a remarkable display of athleticism and presence of mind. Realising the ball was still in play, Sooryavanshi quickly turned around and launched himself into a full-length dive, stretching out his right hand to grab the ball inches above the ground before it could touch the turf.
The crowd and his teammates erupted in celebration as the brilliant effort sent Taniwal back to the pavilion for 13 off 10 balls, an innings that included a four and a six.
HOW SOORYAVANSHI BATTED AGAINST AFGHANISTAN A
Sooryavanshi scored a brisk 38 off 28 balls, but his innings was as much about fortune as it was about flair. The youngster survived a major scare early on when a stunning catch at point was overturned after the third umpire ruled that the ball had touched the ground during the completion of the catch.
His luck continued as Afghanistan A squandered two more opportunities. A top-edged pull shot off Faridoon Dawoodzai was dropped by the square-leg fielder, while another mistimed pull off Abdullah Ahmadzai landed safely after just evading the retreating mid-on fielder.
Making the most of those reprieves, Sooryavanshi played a number of eye-catching strokes, smashing four boundaries and two sixes. He was particularly aggressive against Dawoodzai, taking him apart with consecutive boundaries and a towering six. However, after several missed chances, Dawoodzai eventually got his reward when Sooryavanshi miscued a pull shot that ballooned towards cover-point, where Khalid Taniwal completed a simple catch.
Despite his fortunate escapes, Sooryavanshi’s cameo played a key role in India’s 101-run victory. The win took India to the top of the points table with four points and a net run rate of +0.797. The youngster has now scored 117 runs in four matches at an average of 29.25 and a strike rate of 153.94, with a highest score of 44.
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