Smriti Mandhana took an absolute stunner in the outfield when Adelaide Strikers locked horns with Perth Scorchers in Match No.32 of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 2024 at the Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide. On Tuesday, November 19, the 28-year-old showed tremendous athleticism and helped the Strikers dismiss Carly Leeson when her team was in a dominant position.
In the first ball of the 15th over in the Scorchers’ run-chase, Amanda-Jade Wellington took the wicket of Leeson, but it would not have been possible with Smriti’s efforts. The leg-spinner bowled one outside the off-stump and Leeson tried to aerial with an inside-out shot over the covers.
But Leeson mistimed the ball and managed to spoon it in the air. Mandhana, standing at mid-off, kept her composure to take the catch with both hands. She went backwards, kept her eyes on the ball, pulled off a dive and made sure that she did not let go off the catch.
It wasn’t the only catch that Mandhana took against the Scorchers. In the fourth over, she took the catch of Beth Mooney, giving Zimbabwe’s Anesu Mushangwe her first wicket. Thereafter, she helped Tahlia McGrath dismiss Mikayla Hinkley in the 14th over.
Here’s the video of Smriti Mandhana’s catch
Apart from her incredible work as a fielder, Mandhana also had an excellent day with the bat in hand. After the Strikers were asked to bat first, the southpaw made 41 runs off 29 balls with five fours and a six. She was also involved in a partnership of 81 runs for the opening wicket off 9.4 overs.
After Mandhana got out to Sophie Devine, the Strikers went on to rack up a decent score of 169 for the loss of six wickets. Later, the Strikers won the match by 30 runs after restricting the Scorchers to 139 for the loss of eight wickets.
