England’s Ollie Pope took a one-handed stunner to dismiss New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell on Day 2 of the seco꧒nd Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington o🌌n Saturday.
It all happened in the 33rd over of New Zealand’s first innings. The hosts were struggling at 96-5 when the English captain Ben Stokes handed the ball to left-arm spinner Jack Leach. Mitchell, who was batting on 13 at that moment, d💧efended the ball solidly while stretching forward. But Pope, fielding at the silly point, grabbed the ball out 𒆙of thin air and completed a stunning catch.
Sha🐠ring t🧜he video on their Twitter handle, Cricket on BT Sport wrote:
“What on earth? This is unbelievable from Ollie Pope. The perfect finish to the session!”
What on earth 🤯
This is 𝗨𝗡𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗩𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 fro🐬m Ollie Pope 🔥
The perfect to finish the session!
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt)
Earlier in the day, Pope also took the catch of Henry Nicholls to send him back for 30.
The Stokes-led side is on the verge of a clean sweep after dominating the second day’s play in Wellington, reducing the Black Caps to 138-7 before rain forced an early stumps.
England declared their first innings at a mammoth total of 435-8. Harry Brook scored a quick-fire 186, while Joe Root made a cl🎃assy 153 not out. Together, the duo shared a 302-run partnership for the fourth wicket with the help of 34 fours and 8 sixes.
Matt Henry picked four wickets for the home team, while Michael Bracewell claimed two scalps. Tim Southee & Co. lost the opening match of the two-Test series by 262 runs at Seddon Park in Hamilton last week.
However, both teams are out of the race to reach the World Test Championship (WTC) final, sc🍷heduled 💛to be played at The Oval in London from June 7-11.