[WATCH] Adelaide Strikers’ Dancer Catches Aaron Hardie Six Off Lloyd Pope In BBL 13

Tanmay Roy
|Published

A day after Hobart Hurricanes wicket-keeper batter Ben McDermott smashed a six that hit the roof at the Docklands Stadium, Adelaide Strikers‘ dancer swaggered around his fielding skills to register another enthralling moment in the ongoing Big Bash League 2023/24.

Something very different from how a Brisbane Heat fan had once celebrated Matt Renshaw’s catch, this happened during the recently concluded 27th match of the season against Perth Scorchers at the Adelaide Oval. In a unique spectacle, the dancer was not only keenly aware of a fast-moving ball traveling towards him but was also prepared to catch it. Astonishingly, he was also adept enough to successfully grab the opportunity.

The opportunity was created only after Scorchers captain Aaron Hardie (35) hit Strikers spinner Lloyd Pope (2/36) for a six over deep square leg. Pope’s ordinary leg-break delivery was pitched between off and middle only to be hit with the angle by the right-handed batter, on one knee.

The dancer caught the ball, released it back  onto the ground, and then kept on dancing like it was a normal routine for him. It was a high-spirited moment for everyone on the ground. To be frank, such moments involving people apart from the players, like when a fan was hurt after missing a crowd catch, aren’t really rare in BBL history.

“The Strikers’ dancers, they can catch… Come on give us a back flip. It was only about 57 metre right there. Picked it up beautifully. Can’t believe it. Tell you what, lucky he had his eye on the game there,” commentators said while calling the match.

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Lloyd Pope Takes Revenge By Dismissing Aaron Hardie

In what was turning out to be a knock where Aaron Hardie had started to ensure a competitive innings total for the visitors, it ended up with a below par score after Pope had something up his sleeve the very next legal delivery.

With Hardie having already hit three sixes by then and not at all looking to slow down, he forcibly dragged the following delivery from outside the off-stump. In the process, it hit him high on the bat only to balloon up in the air before being safely grabbed by Adam Hose at deep mid-wicket. Hardie, who didn’t hit a single four during the course of his 27-ball stay, scored 12 (8) at a strike rate of 150 against Pope.


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About the author

Tanmay Roy

Tanmay Roy

Tanmay Roy is a Cricket Journalist at The SportsRush, whose lifelong passion and zeal for the Gentleman's Game landed him this position. A writer with 787 articles under him, Tanmay started out as a fast bowler himself, who played and captained his school cricket team, Tanmay followed the likes of Alan Donald, Kapil Dev, Dale Steyn, Shoaib Akhtar, etc. which peaked his interest in the sport at an early age. Tanmay later on took to batting, although he enjoys hitting in the slog overs as a lower order the most. An ardent fan and follower of cricket since Sourav Ganguly aka Dada waved his shirt off at Lord's balcony, Tanmay's 20+ years of devotion towards cricket brings him the joy and satisfaction required from a job as he pens down articles based on factual knowledge, analysis and his own perspective. Of late, a huge fan of Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammed Shami, Tanmay enjoys to watch fast bowling more than anything. Among other athletes, he is a huge fan of Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, PV Sindhu.

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