Indian woman cricketer Harleen Deol’s stunning boundary catch in an ODI against England went viral recently. It drew praises from all quarters as critics and fans celebrated Harleen’s athleticism in pulling off an unbelievable boundary catch. Harleen took a catch high off her head at the boundary line, but as she misbalanced and the momentum was taking her over the ropes, she threw the ball up in the air. She then dived inside the rope to take a brilliant catch to dismiss Amy Jones.
That was a brilliant catch @imharleenDeol. Definitely the catch of the year for me!pic.twitter.com/pDUcVeOVN8
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 10, 2021
You can view Harleen’s stunning catch here.
There have been many such instances when boundary catches have dominated headlines. Cricwizz takes a look.
David Hussey
It was David Hussey who actually set the trend of juggling boundary catches. In IPL 2010, Hussey, playing for Kolkata Knight Riders, took a blinder and the catch of the tournament to dismiss Paul Collingwood of Delhi Daredevils. Stationed at the long-on boundary, Hussey first managed to get both hands on a ball sailing over him.
But the ball bounced off and ballooned up in the air over the ropes. But Hussey, while staying in the boundary line, managed to drag the ball back into play, but the momentum took him across the ropes. He then dived back inside the rope to catch the ball single-handedly.
You can watch the video of the catch here
AB de Villiers
In IPL 2018, AB de Villiers of RCB was fielding at square leg in a match against SRH. Alex Hales pulled a ball from Moeen Ali straight to square leg, and the ball was sailing across the line. But ABD jumped high in the air, with both his legs folded, to pluck the ball out of thin air. None of the players could believe the stunning catch taken by Superman ABD.
Combined boundary catch by Jake Weatherald and Ben Laughlin
In the 2018 Big Bash League match, Jake Weatherald and Ben Laughlin of Adelaide Strikers combined to take a brilliant boundary catch. Dwayne Bravo of Melbourne Renegades lofted a leg-break from Rashid Khan to the cover boundary. Laughlin came rushing in to take the catch, but the momentum was taking him over the line, and he just threw the ball high in the air to save a six. Weatherald was nearby and managed to make a superb dive to complete the catch.
Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell of Australia has made a fielding career of himself taking these juggling boundaries catches. He has taken these brilliant boundary catches regularly. In a T20I against South Africa, Maxwell showed great presence of mind to pull of a stunner in the boundary line.
Faf du Plessis pulled a short ball from Billy Stanlake straight to the mid-wicket boundary where Maxwell humped high in the air to pluck the ball. But as the momentum took him over the boundary line, he threw the ball up in the air inside the playing line while being still in the air. He then jumped back into play to complete the catch, making it look so ridiculously simple.
You can watch the video of the catch here
Cover image courtesy: Harleen Deol's Facebook account
