New Zealand’s premier men’s T20 domestic tournament – Super Smash T20 2021-22 began on Friday, 26 November. Wellington Firebirds began their campaign with a 27-run victory over Canterbury Kings in the opening match of the season at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Friday night. The highlight of the match was Wellington bowler Nathan Smith’s acrobatic catch on the boundary rope.
The slender cricketer, known for his bowling, took a catch at the fine leg boundary to dismiss Canterbury opener Ken McClure for a duck in the first over of his chase. Cricket Wellington shared the stunning catch on Twitter and wrote, “Nathan Smith stop it.”
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Canterbury won the toss and decided to field first. An entertaining fifty-plus by Finn Allen (57 off 30 balls) powered Wellington to 177/7 in stipulated 20 overs. Chasing a tight target (178), Canterbury made the worst start in the first over thanks to a brilliant catch from Smith.
Hamish Bennett bowled a ball down McClure’s leg, which was comfortably flicked off his pads by the right-handed opener. While the ball seemed to go across the ropes, unfortunately Smith was there for him.
Smith took advantage of his height and took a brilliant catch with some quick steps. The pace took him over the boundary ropes but he showed good presence of mind to jump back inside to complete a brilliant catch. McClure was back in the dugout for a duck off the second ball.
After the first setback, Wellington kept up the pressure and grabbed wickets at regular intervals, refusing to settle Canterbury. The Cole McConchie-led side could never really recover and in the end, the 178-run chase proved to be a huge task as they could only muster. 150/9 in their allotted 20 overs. Michael Bracewell was one of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 3/22 from his full quota of four overs.
Smith proved to be the most expensive bowler for Wellington, as he conceded 40 runs in his four-over spell. Taking two wickets to end the day at the highest level could bring some respite to the 23-year-old.
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