Sri Lanka vs India 2017: Angelo Mathews's flying catch is SK Play of the Day
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it," J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
When a team is down and out, all it needs is that one moment of magic on the field. Deflated hearts start pumping with exhilaration and demoralized players start believing again.
Belief is all that matters in sport - yesterday, today and forever.
Angelo Mathews's blinder on short fine-leg to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan was one such moment. A moment, that might not only spur the hosts to win this match but also go on to lift the endless slump that Sri Lanka finds themselves in right now.
Sri Lanka's most experienced player came to their rescue when the chips were down, out and almost chopped!
India were cruising at 113-1 with in-form Dhawan looking well-settled at 49*. That was when Mathews stepped up, pulled the momentum to Sri Lanka's side, beat it to a pulp and made sure that it stays put where it is!
The left-handed opener's eyes lit up after Milinda Siriwardana's tossed up delivery in the 17th over of the match, and he tried to sweep it to fine leg to reach yet another half-century on this tour.
However, it was not to be. Mathews sprinted in the direction of the ball, flew parallel to the ground and snatched the ball out of thin air.
He stepped down as Sri Lanka's captain after a dismal Champions Trophy campaign followed by a horror series loss against Zimbabwe at home. He was in the convalescent phase of a recurring injury then, and could only be in the team as a specialist batsman.
Today, he was a superhero for his plummeting team.
Virat Kohli's team was completely in control of the match, but now looks in a deep, self-created muddle. It was Mathews's catch that started it all.
This is the beauty of sport. It is absolutely mind-blowing how a little piece of effort on the field can change the game on its face, even between the most unequal of oppositions. A suddenly surging Sri Lankan force is now thudding against India's walls, and it looks like the visitors do not have a response for now.
The man of the moment, and of the match, definitely is Mathews right now. He might've scripted a tale of Sri Lankan resurgence all on his own, and all he had to do for that was prove he could fly!