India and New Zealand are facing each other in the opening game of the three-match ODI series at Eden Park in Auckland. In the modern era of cricket where fitness has been a priority for the players and they often get criticized whenever they make silly mistakes on the field. When Tom Latham failed to grab a catch with one hand, he ended up spilling it helping Shreyas Iyer receive a reprieve.
Coming at No. 3, Shreyas Iyer looked a bit uncomfortable during the start of his innings against New Zealand on Friday at Eden Park in Auckland where conditions suit fast bowlers a lot. The 27-year-old could only muster 11 off his first 20 balls, and India, largely due to his slow start, reached 144/2 after 30 overs despite having a 124-run opening-wicket partnership between Shikhar Dhawan (72 off 77 balls) and Shubman Gill (50 off 65 balls).
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Keeping Shreyas’ poor records against the short ball deliveries, the Kiwi skipper, Kane Williamson continued with Adam Milne from one end to keep the batsman on the back foot. The Kiwi skipper’s move would have worked perfectly, only had Tom Latham managed to take a comparatively each catch with his big gloves.
In the 31st over, Milne expectedly bowled a shortish delivery to Shreyas, which was pitched outside off stump. The Indian batter decided to play a ramp shot over Latham but failed to get any elevation.
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The ball came off his bat’s bottom end and was supposed to be a comfortable grab for Tom Latham. However, the Kiwi keeper misjudged while it was coming to him, jumping a little early and going for one hand to take it, resulting in him embarrassingly spilling it. The Twitterati were quick to react to the incident and started criticizing Latham’s skillset behind the stumps.
Here is the video of the dropped catch from Tom Latham:
— MINI BUS 2022 (@minibus2022) November 25, 2022
As always, Iyer is dancing against BOL deliveries.#INDvsNZ
— Dil Dil Argentina 🇦🇷 🇦🇷 🇦🇷 (@FIFA_For_Messi) November 25, 2022
Iyer is having all the luck going his way in the last few games he played for India. Lucky to survive twice already
— ∆nkit🏏 (@CaughtAtGully) November 25, 2022
Need a Shreyash iyer masterclass now. #INDvsNZ
— Shrey. Croatia🇭🇷 (@imshrey1918) November 25, 2022
Iyer has looked very uncomfortable out there, the pace and bounce really troubling him. Overcommitting on the back foot, not able to transfer his weight on drives on fuller balls. Tried a few hare brained shots too
— Dweplea (@dweplea) November 25, 2022
Iyer on Jai Maharashtra mode
— Sounder (@itz_sounder) November 25, 2022
Latham should have held that!
— TJ Monk (@TJMonk2) November 25, 2022
Dropping Iyer just to keep SKY in dressing room 😂😂😂
— Kuptaan 🇮🇳 (@Kuptaan) November 25, 2022
Shreyas Iyer survives , once again could have been dismissed to a short ball but was dropped by Tom Latham . #INDvNZ
— Sharat Chandra Bhatt (@imsbhatt0707) November 25, 2022
Tom Latham is like DK of NZ makes things complicated when it’s already too difficult #NZvINDonPrime
— DJ CSK (Tamil Paiyyan) (@djcskchan420) November 25, 2022
