Blackcaps centurymaker Will Young has shown his ability without the bat, taking a spectacular boundary catch during his man-of-the-match performance against Bangladesh at Dunedin.
In a rain-plagued encounter, the opener anchored the New Zealand batting with 105 runs off 84, before he was run out in the final over of his team's innings.
His third one-day international ton set the tone for a 44-run victory under Duckworth Lewis Stern calculations, but his effort in the field proved even more special, as the Bangladesh chase began to flounder.
Ironically, the catch came off an extra delivery in an over where bowler Adam Milne thought he had the wicket of Shoriful Islam, caught by Rachin Ravindra, but was no-balled for a delivery that bounced above the batter's shoulders.
Shoriful had already left the field, replaced by Hasan Mahmud, when he was called back by the third umpire, but three balls later, the tall fast-bowler was on his way for good, thanks to Young's backwards-diving, one-handed effort in the outfield.
"It obviously went really high, and I thought I was under it and closish to the boundary," he reflected. "As it came down, it kept coming away from me, so I just stuck the hand out and it stuck.
"Not bad, is it?"
Even Milne seemed to have virtually given up on the catch and showed surprise that he eventually had the wicket taken away from him. Replays showed how lucky Young was to retain his gasp on the ball as he landed marginally inside the boundary, without touching the rope.
With rain repeatedly interrupting play, the match was shortened from 50 overs to 42, then 40 and finally 30, with NZ batters - rocked by the loss of Ravindra and Henry Nicholls in the first over - have to quickly adjust their approach from rebuilding to all-out attack.
Young and captain Tom Latham had brought the score to 104/2 in less than 20 overs, when the last rain stoppage reduced the innings to 30, but the Blackcaps batters clubbed 128 runs off the last 10 to set a demanding target.
"It was tough work at the start," admitted Young. "Losing two wickets in the first over wasn't ideal, and then Tommy and I just grafted away for a little bit.
"The ball was swinging around and doing a bit off the surface, but we felt spin would be easier of the two to face, so we decided to target that.
"On and off with the rain as well, to come out and have 10 overs with eight wickets in the hut, we thought we'd chance our arm. Tnakfully, we got some in the gap and some over the rope too."
While the abbreviated nature of the contest hampered the NZ batting effort, it was not kinder to the tourists, who had already used many of the allotted overs by their frontline bowlers and were forced to use part-timers a little more than planned.
"It's the same for both teams," said Young. "The bowlers need to get warm and then cool down - it wasn't the warmest day today.
"As batters, it can be niggly having to start your innings again, but they were the cards we were dealt today, so we got on with it."
"We had quite a conservative start, so to come away with 240 in a 30-over game was pretty good. We knew how important it was to take early wickets and stem the runrate, because at times, the Bangladesh batters were putting us under pressure."
Young also had the privilege of presenting Central Stages teammate Josh Clarkson with his NZ cap on debut. They batted together briefly - three balls to be exact - before Young ran himself out in the last over.
Clarkson was also short of his ground on the last ball of the innings, as he tried to maximise the Blackcaps score, but also showed his ability with the ball, taking 2/24 off four overs.
"I'm so, so happy for Clarky," said Young. "He's a great CD guy and I've played a lot with him over the last years.
"I've lived with him for a time, and seen him grow as a cricketer and as a bloke. To be there today to present his cap to him and to see him with the fern on his chest, giving his all, was awesome.
"He would have liked a little more time to have an impact on the game with the bat, but that's cricket. You don't always get the opportunities you want, but he made a mark with the ball and got two key wickets for us, so I'm stoked for Clarky."
Join Newshub at 11am Wednesday for live updates of the second Blackcaps v Bangladesh one-day
Blackcaps centurymaker Will Young has shown his ability without the bat, taking a spectacular boundary catch during his man-of-the-match performance against Bangladesh at Dunedin.
In a rain-plagued encounter, the opener anchored the New Zealand batting with 105 runs off 84, before he was run out in the final over of his team's innings.
His third one-day international ton set the tone for a 44-run victory under Duckworth Lewis Stern calculations, but his effort in the field proved even more special, as the Bangladesh chase began to flounder.
Ironically, the catch came off an extra delivery in an over where bowler Adam Milne thought he had the wicket of Shoriful Islam, caught by Rachin Ravindra, but was no-balled for a delivery that bounced above the batter's shoulders.
Shoriful had already left the field, replaced by Hasan Mahmud, when he was called back by the third umpire, but three balls later, the tall fast-bowler was on his way for good, thanks to Young's backwards-diving, one-handed effort in the outfield.
"It obviously went really high, and I thought I was under it and closish to the boundary," he reflected. "As it came down, it kept coming away from me, so I just stuck the hand out and it stuck.
"Not bad, is it?"
Even Milne seemed to have virtually given up on the catch and showed surprise that he eventually had the wicket taken away from him. Replays showed how lucky Young was to retain his gasp on the ball as he landed marginally inside the boundary, without touching the rope.
With rain repeatedly interrupting play, the match was shortened from 50 overs to 42, then 40 and finally 30, with NZ batters - rocked by the loss of Ravindra and Henry Nicholls in the first over - have to quickly adjust their approach from rebuilding to all-out attack.
Young and captain Tom Latham had brought the score to 104/2 in less than 20 overs, when the last rain stoppage reduced the innings to 30, but the Blackcaps batters clubbed 128 runs off the last 10 to set a demanding target.
"It was tough work at the start," admitted Young. "Losing two wickets in the first over wasn't ideal, and then Tommy and I just grafted away for a little bit.
"The ball was swinging around and doing a bit off the surface, but we felt spin would be easier of the two to face, so we decided to target that.
"On and off with the rain as well, to come out and have 10 overs with eight wickets in the hut, we thought we'd chance our arm. Tnakfully, we got some in the gap and some over the rope too."
While the abbreviated nature of the contest hampered the NZ batting effort, it was not kinder to the tourists, who had already used many of the allotted overs by their frontline bowlers and were forced to use part-timers a little more than planned.
"It's the same for both teams," said Young. "The bowlers need to get warm and then cool down - it wasn't the warmest day today.
"As batters, it can be niggly having to start your innings again, but they were the cards we were dealt today, so we got on with it."
"We had quite a conservative start, so to come away with 240 in a 30-over game was pretty good. We knew how important it was to take early wickets and stem the runrate, because at times, the Bangladesh batters were putting us under pressure."
Young also had the privilege of presenting Central Stages teammate Josh Clarkson with his NZ cap on debut. They batted together briefly - three balls to be exact - before Young ran himself out in the last over.
Clarkson was also short of his ground on the last ball of the innings, as he tried to maximise the Blackcaps score, but also showed his ability with the ball, taking 2/24 off four overs.
"I'm so, so happy for Clarky," said Young. "He's a great CD guy and I've played a lot with him over the last years.
"I've lived with him for a time, and seen him grow as a cricketer and as a bloke. To be there today to present his cap to him and to see him with the fern on his chest, giving his all, was awesome.
"He would have liked a little more time to have an impact on the game with the bat, but that's cricket. You don't always get the opportunities you want, but he made a mark with the ball and got two key wickets for us, so I'm stoked for Clarky."
Join Newshub at 11am Wednesday for live updates of the second Blackcaps v Bangladesh one-day
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