- Cricket fan lucky to walk away after crowd catch attempt
- Incident sparked both laughter and concern for the fan
A thrilling moment turned dangerous during the third T20I match between South Africa and Australia, as a fan’s attempt at a catch nearly ended in disaster.
Glenn Maxwell produced some trademark Big Show heroics to lead Australia to a series-deciding two-wicket T20 win in Cairns.
However, South African Dewald Brevis went ballistic with the bat on Saturday night, thumping 53 off 26 balls before being sent packing by a diving Maxwell catch in the deep.
Brevis signalled his intent early in his innings by pulling Ben Dwarshuis (0-37) onto the Cazalys Stadium roof.
But it was the 10th over – bowled by Hardie – when Brevis went into overdrive.
After a dot ball was followed by a two, Brevis proceeded to hit four consecutive sixes from the next four legal deliveries.
South African Dewald Brevis went ballistic with the bat on Saturday night, thumping 53 off 26 balls before being sent packing by a diving Maxwell catch in the deep
An enthusiastic fan was lucky to walk away after attempting a spectacular catch
The first six – over cover – bounced onto the roof and out of the stadium.
Brevis sent his next six straight down the ground, with a crowd member crashing to the ground after running into a fence while trying to take a catch.
The commentary team erupted in laughter at the attempt, but luckily the fan was back on his feet afterwards.
‘Is he impaled?’ Kerry O’Keeffe remarked on Fox Cricket.
Mark Waugh said: ‘They’ll have to check him for [a] concussion’.
Chasing South Africa’s 7-172, Australia were cruising at 2-83 on the back of Mitch Marsh’s 54 off 37 balls before disaster struck.
Australia lost 4-37 to put the contest back in the balance, and it was anyone’s game with the hosts still needing 27 runs off the final three overs.
A chaotic beamer from paceman Kagiso Rabada – which sailed two metres above Maxwell’s head – at the start of the 18th over was one big turning point.
Glenn Maxwell produced some trademark Big Show heroics to lead Australia to a series-deciding two-wicket T20 win
The win secured a 2-1 T20 series victory for Australia ahead of the ODI series
Maxwell thumped his free hit for six, and it looked set to be a piece of cake once the equation got whittled down to 12 runs needed from 12 balls with four wickets still in hand.
There was more drama to come, with Corbin Bosch (3-26) dismissing Ben Dwarshuis and Nathan Ellis in consecutive deliveries to catapult South Africa back into the clash.
Ten runs were needed off the final over, and it became four runs required off the last two balls.
Maxwell kept his cool in the heat of the moment, employing a reverse whack to thump Lungi Ngidi’s hip-high full toss for four to seal victory with one ball to spare.
The win secured a 2-1 T20 series victory for Australia ahead of the ODI series.
‘It was a little bit nerve wracking,’ Maxwell said.
‘We were down to two wickets and I knew I had to do the majority of the striking. It was nice to get a couple out of the middle right near the end.
‘We’ve had a great run with this T20 group, so to have another series win against a quality opposition in South Africa is great for our confidence heading forward.
‘I think there’s another 13 or 14 internationals before the T20 World Cup, and we’re building something really nicely at the moment in this group.’
The Australian team wore black armbands to pay tribute to former Australia Test captain and coach Bob Simpson, who died at the age of 89.
A minute’s silence was held before the game began.
