There are not many who can aim for the stumps directly in the field in a split second, but sometimes, we witness such genius which leaves us stunned. Throws from the outfield which hit the stumps directly and leave the batsman napping are one of the most outrageous things on a cricket field.
Here, we look at some such crazy direct throws from the boundary which caught the batsman short.
Greg Blewett hits the bull’s eye!
Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 1999, 1st Test – Sadagoppan Ramesh was the victim of probably the most unexpected run-out, at least in Test cricket.
After Australia piled on 441 in the first innings, his opening partner Devang Gandhi had just played a neat cover drive as the ball lazily wandered into the outfield in an era where the absence of boundary ropes made the Australian grounds look absolutely huge. In the modern era, the ball may easily have run for a four.
Greg Blewett, the Australian opener, gave it a chase and eventually caught it. From what looked like miles away, he then threw the ball back, which incredibly hit the non-striker’s end directly! Ramesh, trying to complete the fourth run for his partner, was caught short of the crease. If the makers were watching, he might as well have been cast for the role of Bullseye in the movie Daredevil four years later.
Venkatesh Prasad does the impossible – plain luck or great awareness?
England were cruising to a comfortable win at Manchester in 1996. Set 237 to win, largely due to Mohammad Azharuddin’s 64-ball 73 and steady contributions from Vikram Rathour and Sourav Ganguly, the hosts’ chase was led by Alistair Brown’s brilliant century.
In the 39th over, at 185/3, just after his century, Brown worked Kumble between long-on and midwicket, and scrambled across for a couple. His partner Graham Thorpe responded even as Venkatesh Prasad ran in from the boundary and displayed good agility to pick up the ball and throw it back rather in a rather ungainly fashion. The result though was a direct hit at the non-striker’s end and Thorpe was short of his crease.
England though went on to win the match in the 49th over.
David Warner silences Bell
Yes, that’s how Cricket Australia describe the moment, and well, it doesn’t get more apt than this. It’s not quite a throw from the boundary, but almost 3/4th that distance and Warner has only one stump to aim at. He hits the top on one bounce. It’s just incredible to watch!
Paras Khadka – Stand and deliver!
The ACC Twenty20 Elite Cup match in 2003 between Nepal and Singapore was an extremely lopsided contest. Hosts Nepal had amassed 210 in 20 overs and Singapore had lost 6 wickets for just 39 runs. The result was almost inevitable. The 7th wicket to fall was Ahmad Mahboob who was done in by an excellent throw from Nepal skipper Paras Khedka.
Mahboob swept hard in the 11th over but hit it straight to Khedka in the deep. The skipper collected the ball on one bounce, aimed and hit the stumps directly at the non-striker’s end. Mahboob could have expected a four off that hit. Instead, he was run-out trying a single.
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