Kesrick Williams took an astonishing catch to dismiss Shakib Al Hasan

Kesrick Williams must have had his heart in his mouth while tracking down the projectile of the ball.

Published - 01 Aug 2018, 19:13 IST | Updated - 01 Aug 2018, 19:13 IST

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After a resounding performance in the ODI series, Bangladesh came into the three-match T20I series, brimming with confidence. Their T20I records haven’t been great by any means and they were up against the Windies- the defending champions. While the home team won the first match by seven wickets (D/L Method), the encounter wasn’t short of brilliant performances.

Shakib Al Hasan had an impressive outing in the 50-overs format and he was deemed to shoulder the team in the shorter format. After being sent to bat by the Windies, the Tigers got themselves off to a horrendous start. Ashley Nurse accounted for the wickets of Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar after which Shakib took charge to resurrect the innings following the jittery start.

He lost Liton Das as his partner to Keemo Paul after they put on 38 runs from 28 deliveries. Mushfiqur Rahim joined Shakib and the onus was on the duo to put on another partnership. However, thunder stroke at the wrong time for Bangladesh as Shakib perished in the very next delivery. He scored 19 runs from nine balls with four boundaries and looked ominous for Carlos Brathwaite’s men.

Williams clings on to a blinder

Paul dished out a short-pitched delivery, which had quite a significant amount of pace. It got big on Shakib, but the batsmen saw an opportunity to score some runs off that delivery. He went for the uppercut but wasn’t balanced enough to nail the stroke. He almost swept himself off his feet while playing the stroke. The leather had enough elevation and power to sail over the ropes.

Nevertheless, the ball hung in the air forever. Kesrick Williams, who was patrolling the third man region, must have had his heart in his mouth while tracking down the projectile of the ball. He sensed a chance to take a catch and he got hold of the ball. In the meantime, he realised that the momentum was taking him over the ropes. Showing tremendous presence of mind, he threw the ball in the air.

Thereafter he went over the ropes and then jumped in the air to latch on the leather. The catch immediately went upstairs where third umpire Nigel Duguid reviewed the legality of the same. Replays were conclusive in favour of Williams and he was congratulated by his teammates. On the contrary, Shakib Al Hasan went back dejected to add to the agony of the Bangladeshi camp.