“You won’t see a catch like that”: Brody Couch grabs stunning juggling catch to hand Trent Boult maiden BBL wicket

The first match of the ongoing 12th season of the Big Bash League between Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars ended up being a low-scoring thriller at the Manuka Oval.

Chasing a 123-run target, Stars lost wicket-keeper batter Matthew Gilkes (0) and Rilee Rossouw (0) in the first over itself as Trent Boult did what he was expected to do on BBL debut especially with his team defending a low score.

No major standout batting performance throughout the innings pushed Stars in a situation where they needed eight runs from the last over with three wickets in hand. Had it not been for Gurinder Sandhu (20*) six off Thunder pacer Beau Webster in the 20th over, Stars wouldn’t have managed to kick-start their BBL 12 campaign with a last-ball victory in a nail-biting finish.

Apart from Sandhu, Sydney batter Alex Ross (28) and captain Jason Sangha (24) contributed a bit in a match which was dominated by bowlers of both the teams. Sandhu, who had also picked a couple of wickets as an opening bowler, was adjudged the Player of the Match for his all-round and match-winning effort tonight.

Brody Couch grabs stunning juggling catch to hand Trent Boult maiden BBL wicket

Boult, who had publicly expressed preference for T20 leagues over international cricket a couple of months ago, was successful in making a substantial impact by dismissing two top-order batters within his first three deliveries of the match.

Boult, however, was largely assisted by substitute fielder Brody Couch in dismissing Gilkes on the second ball of the innings. With the left-handed batter flicking a Boult delivery towards Couch at short fine leg, the fielder was found wanting initially as he appeared to have made a mess of a straightforward catch.

That being said, as luck would have it, Couch had been at it trying to complete the catch whilst juggling including unintentionally kicking the ball with his leg. Having eventually grabbed a one-handed catch after performing all sort of tricks, Couch became a source of amazement among his teammates in Canberra on Tuesday.

Couch, 23, was substituting for injured batter Joe Burns. Having suffered a hamstring injury while batting in the first innings, Burns is expected to miss some part of Big Bash League 12.