Watch: Kane Williamson ran backwards and took a fine diving catch in his comeback game from injury to dismiss Abdullah Shafique during Pakistan’s run-chase at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru today (November 4).
On an unusual day, the first ODI in Bangalore, New Zealand saw a heap of scores. Pakistan went for an all-hands attack without a specialist spinner, but it backfired. Meanwhile, New Zealand received a boost from the return of captain Kane Williamson, who missed several games with a broken thumb.
Rachin Ravindra scored his 300th World Cup run, while Williamson was as solid as ever, scoring 95 off 79 balls. With substantial contributions from the middle order of Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner, New Zealand finished with 401-6 after 50 overs.
Pakistan’s position in the points table means they need to reach the target within 35.3 overs to overtake New Zealand and move into fourth place.
Out of necessity, they tried to initiate pursuit in an aggressive manner. This resulted in an early wicket for Shafiq, who tried to cross offside against Tim Southee but could not time it. Standing in the middle, Williamson ran 17 meters back before taking an almost full-length dive and taking a brilliant catch, dismissing the right-hander on four of his nine balls in the second over.
Williamson was always an exceptional fielder, but the fact that he was recovering from a broken thumb and still had thick tape on his left thumb made this feat even more special.
Watch Kane Williamson take stunning diving catch while running backwards:
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