Watch: Jimmy Neesham's clever antics to get back on strike in the T20 Blast

New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham was involved in a bizarre run-out during a T20 Blast fixture played on Friday (July 1).

Turning up for Northamptonshire at Grace Road, Neesham intentionally sold his partner down the river after faking a plea for him to stay put at the striker's end. 

The batter run-out in the strangest of fashion was Lewis McManus, batting on 11 off 5 at the time. 

Tapping the ball across the off-side on a yorker from Leicestershire seamer Ben Mike, Neesham initially asked McManus to quickly turn the strike over. 

But with Northants in a desperate hole, Jimmy Neesham changed his mind upon reaching the other end and asked his partner to go for a hopeless second run in an interesting manner. 

Jimmy Neesham masterminds strange run-out 

Even though he was hand-gesturing McManus to stop over at the batting end, Jimmy Neesham kept running back towards the striker's end, perhaps emoting with his face for McManus to actually run and not stay put at that end. 

Neesham knew he is sacrificing McManus for that second run as the Leicestershire fielders quickly realised the batter's intent and got his partner run-out. 

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But it was a sacrifice made for the larger good of the side, with Northamptonshire requiring another 13 runs off the last five deliveries. 

It wasn't a shade on McManus' batting capabilities, especially with him placed 11 off 5 at the time. The idea from Neesham was for him to get back on strike since he was batting 43 off 19 before the delivery from Mike. 

Here's the vid https://t.co/GXAFvcdnwD pic.twitter.com/rfJj3eVQUa

— Cameron Ponsonby (@cameronponsonby) July 1, 2022

Jimmy Neesham opted for a clever way to get back on strike, anticipating the opposition to skip a crucial split-second in losing guard when they initially saw him gesturing his partner to settle with the single via his left hand. 

He then started strolling across for the next run, emoting McManus to actually go for the second run. And even as he knew the Leicester fielders would recognise his intentions at some point, Neesham was willing to sacrifice his partner's wicket for the larger good for Northants. 

Ultimately this ploy didn't bear the desired fruits as Northamptonshire suffered a painful one-run loss in a high-scoring fixture. But the idea was correct.