WATCH: Tim Southee takes a stunning one-handed catch on day 3 of SL vs NZ 1st Test

New Delhi: New Zealand captain Tim Southee who is also one of the best pacers in the cricketing world, took a stunning catch dismissing Pathum Nissanka on Day 3 20th September, Friday. It was the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, standing in the second slip Tim Southee flew himself in the air to his right and took a one-handed stunner catch off Will O’Rourke’s bowling.

Talking about the dismissal, the wicket occurred in the third of Sri Lanka’s second innings as the extra bounce from the right-arm speedster left Nissanka in an awkward position while trying to defend. As a result, the ball hit the shoulder of his bat and Tim Southee dived to his right at second slip to pluck it out of thin air.

What a brilliant catch by tim Southee #SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/7OMAqjLqzf

— हम भारत के लोग (@bh_bi_bgp_brh) September 20, 2024

The 23-year-old, who got the first breakthrough for his team in the second innings, had also starred in the opening dig. Playing his first Test in the sub-continent, O’Rourke took a fifer, dismissing Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Ramesh Mendis and Asitha Fernando.

It is worth mentioning that the Kiwis started the third day at 255-5, with Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell in the middle. With only 50 runs away from Sri Lanka’s total of 305, the Black Caps would have fancied taking a big lead but were bowled out for 340.

Tom Latham top-scored for the visitors with 70 as Prabath Jayasuriya finished with figures of 40-5-136-4. Mitchell and Kane Williamson also made half-centuries to lift their side to 340. Ramesh Mendis picked up three wickets while Dhananjaya de Silva shared a couple.

The Kiwis hoped to gain some match practice ahead of the Sri Lanka tour against Afghanistan during the one-off Test in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. However, it proved to be one of the few Tests that was entirely washed out due to persistent rains.

After the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, Tim Southee’s men will head to India to play three Tests. New Zealand are currently third in the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) standings behind India and Australia.