New Zealand fan wins $50k after crowd catch

What's the news?

Mitchell Grimstone, a 20-year-old student present in the crowd during the T20 tri-series match between New Zealand and Australia yesterday has pocketed a hefty NZD 50,000 by virtue of plucking a stunning left-handed catch, which turned out to be a six hit by Ross Taylor. "I'm not left-handed," he said. "But somehow I put it there and it stuck, and then everyone was jumping over me."

In case you didn't know..

In yesterday's match at Eden Park, Australia hunted down a record T20 chase of 244 with seven balls to spare after New Zealand had posted 243/6 in 20 overs.

In limited-overs international matches in New Zealand, a company named Tui offers the opportunity of winning the sum, provided one belongs to the legal drinking age in the country and is ready to sport an orange shirt. If the catch is taken cleanly and is one-handed, then the chance of grabbing $50,000 comes the fan's way.

This January, it was a Dunedin builder Craig Dougherty who had become the first man to receive the money when he caught the ball off a six from Martin Guptill while New Zealand played Pakistan at the University Oval.

The heart of the matter

In the penultimate over of the New Zealand innings, Taylor swung his bat at an Andrew Tye delivery, and while the hit clearly gave him six runs over the short leg-side boundary over square leg, the ball landed in the outstretched left hand of the young cricket fan. "It all happened in a blur, I saw it and I thought, 'I have a chance here' and then popped out my hand," Grimstone said. “I'm not left handed but somehow it got in there and it stuck. And then everyone was jumping on me."

Congratulations Mitch on a great catch and 50k 💰 Enjoy my gloves and the match ball… https://t.co/2F4G9sJaXz

— Ross Taylor (@RossLTaylor) February 16, 2018

As a result, he was crazily mobbed by the crowd who could scarcely believe what the boy had pulled off. Eventually, he also had the opportunity to conduct an abrupt press conference once the match got over, and Taylor gifted him with his gloves and the match ball.

Author's Take

For a fan like Grimstone, who even plays club cricket in Wellington, it was nothing but perhaps the most memorable evening of his life, a story which he would continue to tell forever.