Watch: AIRBORNE! Zimbabwe’s Innocent Kaia plucks a catch out of thin air

Zimbabwe cricketer Innocent Kaia pulled off a scintillating catch during the third and final T20I of the series against Afghanistan on Tuesday (June 14) afternoon in Harare. 

Kaia plucked one out of thin air with his one-hand at the boundary ropes, protecting what felt like a certain six off the bat of Afghanistan batter Hazratullah Zazai. 

Facing home team seamer Tendai Chatara’s short ball from over-the-wicket angle, the left-hander smashed one to the deep mid-wicket region and looked set to fetch six runs off the delivery before Kaia unveiled his magic. 

Placed in the deep, Innocent Kaia quickly got around the ball and jumped up to try and grab hold of the ball. He held his one hand high while being in an awkward twisted angle with his body and yet the ball stuck into his right hand for one of the better pieces of catching you will see. 

Innocent Kaia’s magical piece of catching in Harare 

The catch was seen at the start of the fourth over in the Afghanistan first-innings batting effort. Running into bowl at Zazai, who is known for his ferocious leg-side hitting against spin and seam, Chatara made a mistake of bowling one near the batter’s arc and was dispatched for a terrific shot. 

Maybe the seamer’s idea was to out-do the dangerous left-hander with a short-ball that goes head height. But the ball arrived to Zazai at a comfortable space to be able to pull or hook the ball for a potential six.

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The batter should’ve had his desired goal to maximise the delivery on offer, but had to make the long walk back when he saw Innocent Kaia pluck the ball out of nowhere to provide Zimbabwe an unexpected but desperately needed breakthrough. 

“That’s definitely a six. Oh wait. Surely not. No way.” If these were your thoughts, we’re in the same boat. WHAT. A. CATCH. Take a bow, #Kaia!

Watch all the action from the @ACBofficials tour of @ZimCricketv LIVE, exclusively on #FanCode.👉 https://t.co/h5vc0lwFbZ pic.twitter.com/ndouuQDbzg

— FanCode (@FanCode) June 14, 2022

For Kaia, it was a moment of glory enjoyed by fans watching the live stream of the Zimbabwe-Afghanistan T20I series as well as the commentators giving their voice to the proceedings. One of them rated his piece of fielding as something that wouldn’t be surpassed in greatness by anyone else.