Black Caps star’s "stupendous" catches stun cricket world

Jimmy Neesham has lit up the SA20 tournament in South Africa with a pair of stunning catches.

The Black Caps all-rounder continues to showcase his fielding prowess for the Pretoria Capitals in the South African Twenty20 league with two brilliant diving grabs during his side’s clash against the Durban Super Giants.

After the Super Giants got off to a fast start through opening pair Quinton de Kock and Ben McDermott, Neesham pulled off a superb caught and bowled in his first ball, leaving the Supersport commentator stunned.

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, I cannot believe that,” commentator Pommie Mbangwa said. “This guy continues to just take stupendous catches.”

While Neesham’s breakthrough wasn’t able to halt the Super Giants’ momentum, he later got the crowd off their feet with an even better one-handed catch, diving to his right to claim the wicket of Wiaan Mulder.

“You’ve done it again! You’ve done it again,” said Mbangwa. “I can’t believe this, Jimmy Neesham – what do you have for food?

“How many times are we going to say it? We’re going to say ‘you’ll be watching this over and over and it’s Jimmy Neesham on the end of it’ – that’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic.”

Despite Neesham’s efforts, the Super Giants ended up posting a massive 245/4, with Heinrich Klaasen leading the way with a 43-ball century.

Neesham wasn’t able to replicate his fielding magic with the bat, managing just eight runs as the Capitals collapsed to a 151-run defeat.

Neesham last year turned down a New Zealand Cricket contract to pursue a spot in the lucrative T20 league in South Africa, where he fetched the biggest fee for an overseas player at the inaugural SA20 draft auction last September.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission