T20 World Cup 2022: [Watch] Freakish dismissal sends David Warner packing early during run-chase against New Zealand
Australian opening batter David Warner was subject to a freakish dismissal in the opening Super 12s contest of the T20 World Cup 2022 against New Zealand on Saturday. The left-handed batter lost his wicket in the second over in pursuit of the 201-run target set by Kane Williamson's side.
He got off the mark in the first over with a streaky boundary off Trent Boult and took guard to face Tim Southee in the next over. The right-arm pacer bowled a trademark delivery coming into the left-hander to begin his spell.
Warner got into an awkward position while trying to hoick the ball towards midwicket. The ball bounced a bit lower than he anticipated, leading to an inside edge, which hit him right on the front pad. But to the 35-year-old batter's dismay, the series of ricochets did not end there.
The ball, upon contact with the pad, proceeded to take an upward trajectory and in bizarre fashion struck Warner's bat which was left hanging after his bat swing. To conclude the set of proceedings which happened in the blink of an eye, the ball hit the stumps after deflecting off the bat.
Watch the video of the freak dismissal right below:
Australia needed a brisk start at the top led by the southpaw to scale the mammoth target set by New Zealand in the opening Super 12s encounter.
Warner's dismissal triggered a collapse as New Zealand hold a firm grip over the game
Australia were pegged back right from the word go as Warner departed early. The rest of the batting unit could not deal with the increased required run rate following some tight bowling in the powerplay by New Zealand.
Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh tried to take on the Blackcaps with some counter-attacking positive cricket, but lost their wickets in quick succession.
To make matters worse, the T20 World Cup 2021 runners-up have simply been flawless on the field, reducing the reigning champions to 86/6 at the time of writing. The cherry on top arguably came during Marcus Stoinis' dismissal, which was sealed by a stunning catch by Glenn Phillips.
Can Australia chase down the 201-run target on the back of their gun batting order? Let us know what you think.