Spectator goes for a diving catch in the crowd, ends up enduring a rather painful fall

Crowd catches have always been a subject of awe, sometimes hilarity, ever since six-hitting became commonplace in the game. During South Africa’s first ODI against England, a gentleman in the crowd decided to display his fielding skills to the world, but ended up disappearing face first into the cluster of seats right next to him, evoking a hilarious response from all those who witnessed him fall like a sack of potatoes.

South Africa’s night did not go to plan, with a crushing 72-run defeat at the hands of England. However, an attempted catch during the South Africa innings would have left room for a smile on everyone’s face.

With South Africa on 200-4 and AB de Villiers-David Miller at the crease in pursuit of England’s giant total of 340, the latter came down to Adil Rashid’s pitched up delivery and absolutely clobbered it, getting some great connection and sending it into the stands, a shot which would’ve made any batsman proud.

Miller sent the ball flying with a crunching shot over long off

Sadly enough, Miller was not the one who would shine in the spotlight for the shot, as the ball which was dispatched to long-off, caught the eye of a spectator, who decided to go for a full lunge in an attempt to grab it. Now we’re all used to crowd catches, and everyone likes being involved in the game as much as possible, but this was a little extreme.

An excited fan decided to go for the difficult catch, but lost his balance completely

The spectator judged the ball, but upon realising this won’t be an easy one, tilted toward his left side, ready to stretch and grab it. He ended up completely missing the ball, getting a finger to it and then hysterically falling into the tarpaulin covering the adjoining column of seats.

He completely disappeared in the tarpaulin spread out in the row of seats right next to him

As he fell in the gap between his seat and the adjacent bleacher, luckily for him, the cloth in the gap broke his fall, making sure he did not plummet to 40 broken bones. Maybe it had a positive effect, as Miller only proceeded to score one run before walking back to the pavilion.

As he struggled to his feet, he realised that he had made a complete fool of himself in front of everyone

 

As a bonus, here are some of the best catches taken in the crowds by attentive, and highly talented spectators.