7 costliest dropped catches in international cricket

Herschelle Gibbs famously dropped Steve Waugh in the 1999 World Cup.

'Catches win matches' is perhaps one of the oldest cliches to be commonly used in cricket even till this date. It may hold to an extent, however, not all teams who cling on to all their catches end up winning all the time. The same logic applies to dropped catches too, as teams do manage to win cricket matches despite having spilt essential catches.

However, every team is not fortunate enough in this regard as numerous dropped chances in cricket history have changed the course of a particular game or an entire series at times. We take a look at seven famous dropped catches and how costly they proved out to be.

7. Ashley Giles drops Ricky Ponting

Giles destroyed England’s advantage with this drop.

The Ashes history has seen many a momentum shift thanks to a dropped catch from either of the teams. This is precisely what transpired in the 2006/07 Ashes series as well when England’s Ashley Giles grassed a catch offered by Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.

Australia had a 1-0 lead in the series going into the 2nd Test at Adelaide. However, England made the most of a flat deck and put on 551 for 6 in their 1st innings. In reply, the Aussies had been reduced to 65 for three at one stage and almost lost a fourth when Ponting’s pull shot carried to Giles at deep square leg.

The lanky off-spinner, however, managed to put the catch down with Ricky Ponting on 35 and the master batsman took full toll with a brilliant 142. His innings set the tone for a memorable 6-wicket victory to Australia.

6. Kiran More drops Graham Gooch

Kiran More came up with a dropped catch of epic proportions.

India was not known to be a tremendous touring side in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. Although the result of India’s 1990 Test series against England was not bad at 1-0, they were let down in the only Test that they lost by a dropped catch from wicketkeeper Kiran More.

It was not so much about the catch being dropped, but about the price that the Indians had to pay for it. Graham Gooch was the batsman who edged the ball to More when on 36; however, the wicketkeeper’s failure to cling on to the ball cost his team a staggering 297 runs more.

Gooch scored 333 and England routed India by 247 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series, which turned out to be their series-winning margin.

5. Marlon Samuels drops Martin Guptill

Marlon Samuels gives Guptill a reprieve during his epic 237 not out.

The costliest drop in a World Cup encounter in terms of runs was when West Indies allrounder Marlon Samuels spilt a simple chance offered by Kiwi batsman Martin Guptill. The occasion was the 4th quarter-final of the 2015 ICC World Cup, and New Zealand were batting first.

Guptill looked to dispatch a leg-stump half-volley from Jerome Taylor in the very first over of the match, but ended up hitting it straight to Samuels at square leg. The fielder looked unprepared to take the catch and gave the opening batsman a big reprieve with his score at 4.

Martin Guptill put 233 more runs on the board and surpassed Chris Gayle’s record of the highest score in a World Cup match. In the process, Guptill also helped his team qualify for the semis with an emphatic 143-run win.

4. Graham Thorpe drops Matthew Elliott

This dropped chance from Thorpe cost England the Ashes in 1997

The 1997 Ashes series played in England was all square at 1-1 after the first 3 Tests of a 6-match series. The 4th Test at Headingley was to decide which way the momentum for the rest of the series would swing.

Australia demolished England for a paltry 172 in their 1st innings, but were themselves reeling on 50 for 4 at one point in their innings. Opener Matthew Elliott had not scored too many when he edged a ball from newcomer Mike Smith to Graham Thorpe in the slips.

Thorpe was unable to hold on to the chance and consequently, Elliott scored a game-changing 199 as the Australians won by an innings and 61 runs. The Aussies took the series in the following Test, while England grabbed a consolation win in the 6th Test.

3. Thisara Perera drops Rohit Sharma

The expression of the Sri Lankans after Perera’s dropped catch said it all

No dropped catch in ODI cricket has proved to be more costly in terms of runs than Thisara Perera letting one go off Rohit Sharma’s bat during the latter’s record-smashing innings of 264 at Kolkata. Rohit was batting on 4 at the time and he went on to add another 260 runs to his kitty.

The stylish batsman struggled through the initial stages of his epic knock and nearly gave it away as he skied one straight in the direction of third man. Perera, however, made a complete meal of a simple chance much to the dismay of bowler Shaminda Eranga.

Rohit Sharma capitalized on this stroke of luck and played a largely chanceless innings after that with the only other reprieves coming after he had completed his double century.

2. Shane Warne drops Kevin Pietersen, 2005

Had Warne completed this catch, Australia could have retained the Ashes

The Ashes is the greatest prize in Test cricket as far as the Australian and English teams are concerned. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, the trend was for Australia to dominate the Ashes series and win comfortably.

The 2005 Ashes, however, broke the trend as England managed to register a 2-1 victory in a closely fought series. But the result could have very well been 2-2 if Shane Warne hadn't dropped Kevin Pietersen on 15 in England's 2nd innings.

The Australians were only 95 runs behind when Brett Lee made Pietersen nick one to the slips, where Warnie, a usually safe slipper, grassed the catch. The mercurial English batsman made them pay badly as England secured a draw and brought home the Ashes.

1. Herschelle Gibbs drops Steve Waugh, 1999

Gibbs spilt the most important catch of his career out of sheer excitement

The costliest dropped catch in cricket history, without a shadow of a doubt, was Herschelle Gibbs spilling a sitter off the bat of Steve Waugh in the 1999 World Cup. One line from the Australian skipper was enough, to sum up the consequence of Gibbs' actions, 'You've just dropped the World Cup!'

Waugh's words proved out to be prophetic as South Africa not only lost that match, but also could only tie the semi-final against the same team resulting in their exit from the 1999 ICC World Cup. Australia, on the other hand, thrashed Pakistan in the final to lift their 2nd World Cup trophy.