WATCH, BBL | 'It's a bird, it's a plane... no it's Cam Bancroft' with heroic boundary rope catch

01/13/2023

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Sportspersons at times appear as no less than real-life heroes given they exceed known human limits to pull off feats beyond the capabilities of ordinary men. Cameron Bancroft sent the Sydney crowd into raptures on Friday with a stunning diving catch on the boundary ropes to end all Thunder hopes.

Sydney Thunder's fragilities with the bat were once again on display at the Sydney Showground Stadium on Friday as they collapsed for a measly 111 after Ashton Turner won the toss and chose to field first. All of David Payne, Lance Morris, and Matthew Kelly scalped two wickets, letting only three batsmen reach double figures in the 10th-round Big Bash League fixture. The star of the show was Andrew Tye with figures of 4-1-27-3 but the pacer had Cameron Bancroft a lot to thank for in helping him maintain his exemplary numbers in the encounter.

In the 19th over, with the score reading 110/8, Nathan McAndrew decided to risk it all by going gung ho in a bid for a competitive score. The tailender struck a straight length ball sweetly off the middle of his bat and it seemed to be sailing over cow corner for a six. However, at the very last moment, a running Cameron Bancroft suddenly appeared in the frame and dove full stretch to his right with both arms extended. The batter had sprinted all the way from long on and ensured his efforts did not go to waste as he somehow grabbed onto the Kookaburra and held onto it even as he landed on the ground with a massive thud. Equally importantly, the 30-year-old managed to angle his backward dive precisely to ensure he does not slide past the boundary rope in his wild attempt.

The opener's pose seemed to be a perfect emulation of the Superman flying pose as his catch rang the death knell for the opposition. Bancroft later added to Thunder's misery by racing to an unbeaten 41 off 32 at the time of writing, guiding Perth to just 25 runs away from the target with over nine overs to go.