Sri Lanka is locking horns with New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup 2022 on Saturday. There have been a few incidents in the tournament when a player has dropped unbelievably simple catches. It seems that the Asian champions are following the trend as Pathum Nissanka dropped an absolute sitter on the ropes against New Zealand.
The Sri Lankan team had a got start in the game having the Black Caps reeling at 25/3 at the end of the powerplay. All the top-three batters failed to surpass the 10-run mark with Maheesh Theekshana, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kasun Rajitha taking a scalp each, ensuring the stage was set for superstar all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga to come in simply sweep the tide completely in the Asians’ favor.
Hasaranga was bowling the seventh over of the innings and immediately delivered with some crisp bowling, churning out a golden opportunity on the fifth delivery. Bowing to a dangerous-looking Glenn Phillips who had been timing the ball in the innings so far, Hasaranga floated one full and tempted the batter to go for a heave down the ground.
Phillips almost smashed the ball straight into the hand of the fielder on long off, Pathum Nissanka. One couldn’t have faulted the Lions if they had started celebrating when the ball was mid-air given the simplicity of the catch but the opener somehow managed to mess it up in a painfully hilarious way. Patiently waiting for the Kookaburra to arrive, a shuffling Nissanka seemed to judge the ball’s trajectory perfectly but made the schoolboy error of keeping his hands too close to his body.
The ball hit his palm and simply popped out as {athim Nissanka desperately flung at it again but in vain and was left lying head down in shame. Hasaranga could not believe his eyes and he was devastated that the chance had gone begging. The incident took place just two days after Zimbabwe’s historic win against Pakistan, where the latter’s Haider Ali had showcased similar antics by dropping an equally easy sitter.
Here is the video of the dropped catch:
— Richard (@Richard10719932) October 29, 2022
Pathum Nissanka drops straightforward catch off Wanindu Hasaranga's bowling. #T20WorldCup #NZvSL
— Tat'uRadebe (@hlubizer) October 29, 2022
Pathum Nisanka drops Glenn Philips on 12.
Wanindu hasaranga was the bowler.— Shubham Mishra¹⁸ (@IamshubhamM18) October 29, 2022
Wanindu Hasaranga already bowling improved lengths in comparison to the last game.
— AJN (@LifeIsAnElation) October 29, 2022
Pathum drops a catch off him. Not the support Hasaranga was looking for https://t.co/glnv9BoWlI
— DS (@Wise_Cricket) October 29, 2022
Pathum Nissanka drops a soda bottle at long-off as Glenn Phillips gets an extra day to tell his tale…
New Zealand could have been 4 down, but! #T20WorldCup #NZvsSL #PathumNissanka
— OneCricket (@OneCricketApp) October 29, 2022
Pathum nissanka dropped such an easy catch otherwise it would have been so much more interesting
— Aman (@Wierdotweets) October 29, 2022
Thank you Pathum for that drop catch. The clumsier the better. #lka #NZvsSL
— Roy (@lawabidingroy) October 29, 2022
Ohh drops it
Pathum has dropped a sitter#NZvSL #T20WorldCup— Final Whistle (@fwhistle907) October 29, 2022
