Cricket: Dazzling catches can clinch matches

Lou Vincent (L) and Nathan Astle celebrate Saturday's boundary-catch dismissal of West Indian batsman Dwayne Smith. Phil Walter/Getty Images

Dwayne Smith was last seen yesterday wearing the wide-eyed stare of a man who had just witnessed a paranormal event.

The cavalier West Indian all-rounder was so stunned by Nathan Astle's gravity-defying catch on Saturday that he initially refused to believe his eyes. He was still shaking his head yesterday when the team arrived in Napier.

Having swung spinner Jeetan Patel for what looked like a clear six over mid-wicket, Smith looked on incredulously as Astle broke several rules of physics while completing one of the all-time great outfield catches.

The look on Smith's face at that moment was a comic mixture of disbelief and confusion, not dissimilar to the expression worn by England's Mike Gatting after being bowled by "The Ball of the Century", or England wicket-keeper Chris Read after being defeated by Chris Cairns' slower-ball in 1999.

How Astle managed to defy his 34 years and execute such an athletic vertical leap, never mind plucking the ball one-handed while still in the air and landing inside the boundary rope, remains one of game's great mysteries.

But coach John Bracewell was more certain about the impact of the dismissal, describing it yesterday as an outstanding catch; "sublime in judgment and skill", and one that "probably secured us the match".

It also raised the question of New Zealand's finest outfield catches, a subjective exercise considering the lack of television coverage in the pre-1970s era, but one in which several obvious nominations spring to mind.

Astle's effort against South Africa at Napier in 1999 is a certain finalist; the Canterbury favourite sprinting and diving forward at long-on to snare a booming lofted drive off the bat of Shaun Pollock.

The late Hansie Cronje said later he'd not seen a better catch.

Then there was Dipak Patel's stunner at Perth in 1988, when the New Zealand all-rounder hared around the boundary and - like Astle - jumped backwards to snatch an eye-popping catch virtually out of the crowd.

Patel said yesterday he remembered desperately trying to avoid a collision with the WACA sight-screen at the time, but believed Astle's catch was superior because of the fact he caught the ball in mid-air, and at the limit of his extension.

The previous most astonishing outfield catch accepted by a New Zealand was almost certainly Mathew Sinclair's crowd-silencing performance in the inaugural Chappell-Hadlee one-dayer at Melbourne's Telstra Dome in 2004.

Having just come off a humiliating test defeat at Adelaide, Sinclair gave his side an early boost when he raced around the mid-wicket boundary, dived full-stretch to his left and grabbed a breathtaking catch off the bat of Matthew Hayden.

Less well-known is Martin Crowe's acrobatic effort against Zimbabwe in a 1987 World Cup match at Hyderabad.

At a time when it seemed the unfancied Zimbabweans were about to hand New Zealand their most ignominious defeat in history, Crowe came to the party with a spectacular running and sprawling catch at long-on, ending the threat of century-maker Dave Houghton.

The cliche that catches win matches held secure that day - New Zealand eventually won by three runs.

HOWZAT

* Five great New Zealand outfield catches in recent memory ...

* Nathan Astle v West Indies, Christchurch, 2006:
 Dwayne Smith c Astle b Patel 2.

* Mathew Sinclair v Australia, Melbourne, 2004:
Matthew Hayden c Sinclair b Oram 13.

* Nathan Astle v South Africa, Napier, 1999:
Shaun Pollock c Astle b Nash 16.

* Dipak Patel v Australia, Perth, 1988:
Craig McDermott c Patel b Chatfield 7.

* Martin Crowe v Zimbabwe, Hyderabad, 1987:
David Houghton c Crowe b Snedden 142.