Wellington T20I: Dinesh Karthik’s special catch off Daryl Mitchell lights up social media

Dinesh Karthik had a mixed night in the first Twenty20 International against New Zealand in Wellington. Karthik dropped Seifert off Krunal Pandya in the 11^th over and the right-hander went on to make 84 off 43 balls. The Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper also dropped a simple catch off Ross Taylor and the other Pandya, Hardik was the unlucky bowler this time. However, in between the two dropped catches, Karthik picked up a stunning catch as he dismissed debutant Daryl Mitchell to set social media alight and give the Indian cricket fans something to smile. Before the drop off Taylor, Karthik had made amends with a brilliant catch off Hardik.

Mitchell miscued a full ball from Hardik to the long on fence, Karthik was positioned near the boundary and he took the catch initially but had tremendous presence of mind to lob it back just before stepping past the ropes. Karthik came back in and dived forward to complete the formalities and the catch set social media on fire. The third umpire had a look for a long time but the catch was deemed clean and the front foot was also checked but Hardik was clean on both counts.

What A Catch!. 🔥 DK (Dinesh Karthik) @DineshKarthik 😍😘 #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/WwfKHPVptr

— Shankar (@shanmsd) February 6, 2019

The catch by Karthik was one of the few good points for India in a match that has been dominated by New Zealand. India won the toss and chose to bowl in Wellington but Tim Seifert and Colin Munro gave New Zealand a blazing start. Seifert found the boundary on a regular basis and the run-rate was close to 10 per over. Seifert managed to smash 84 off 43 balls but Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor continued the big hits.

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New Zealand also benefited by couple of drops, in particular from Karthik who dropped Taylor. Scott Kugglejin smashed a couple of boundaries as New Zealand ended on 219/6, the joint-second highest total in Twenty20 Internationals against India. India will be aiming to break their T20I jinx in New Zealand, having never won a match in the country. India recently eliminated 10 years of pain as they won the ODI series 4-1, their best scoreline in any format in New Zealand.

HIGHLIGHTS

• New Zealand achieved their highest score against India in T20Is.
• Tim Seifert scored his maiden fifty in T20Is.
• India have not yet won a T20I against New Zealand in New Zealand.