New Zealand vs England
The fan nearly pulled off an outrageous catch during the New Zealand vs England Test (Credits: BT Sport/Twitter)

A fan watching the ongoing Test between New Zealand and England nearly pulled off arguably the greatest-ever crowd catch on Saturday (February 18).

New Zealand and England are currently fighting it out at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. Keeping up with their new style of batting in Tests, England scored a quickfire 325 for 9 on day one before declaring their innings. The runs came off in less than 59 overs.

Ben Duckett (84 off 68) and Harry Brook (89 off 81) scored fifties with a strike-rate of more than 100 to lead England’s charge with the bat. In reply, New Zealand were all out for 306, 19 runs short of England’s first innings total.

Tom Blundell
Tom Blundell Credits: Twitter

The Black Caps were off to a poor start and were reeling at 83 for 5 at one stage. However, a fine century from Tom Blundell helped them cross the 300-run mark.

New Zealand vs England 2023: Fan nearly pulls off an outrageous catch:

As if the action on the field was not enough entertaining, one fan decided to provide more entertainment to his fellow fans by going for an outrageous catch. The incident took place in the 23rd over of England’s second innings.

New Zealand left-arm pacer Neil Wagner was up against Ollie Pope. The fast-bowler bowled a bouncer at Pope and the latter hooked it brilliantly for a six over fine leg. And before the ball could land on the ground, the fan made a full length dive to his left. He got his hand on the ball while being airborne but just could not hold on to it.

Here is a clip of the attempt from the fan:

Talking about England’s second innings, they have continued to score at almost 6 runs per over. At tea on day three, England were on 237 for 6 with their lead extended to 256 runs. Brook scored a quickfire fifty in the second innings too, smashing 54 off just 41 balls with the help of 7 fours and 2 sixes. Joe Root also scored a fifty, scoring 57 runs off 62 balls.

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