Quinton de Kock’s heart-out effort went in vain. They covered a good amount of ground to take a stunning catch. But in the end, it was a missed catch. After running near the boundary rope, from the keeping spot, the wicketkeeper threw his body into the air to catch the ball. If he were able to take the catch, then South Africa could have dismissed New Zealand opener Finn Allen early in the second innings.
Kagiso Rabada, the pacer, was hoping to watch a stunner. But he had turned his back as the ball bounced from the fingertips of de Kock. The incident happened in the second over of the second innings of the first semifinal of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The incident took place in the first over of Kagiso Rabada, and the second over of the second innings. New Zealand was then with only 12 runs, with their openers, Finn Allen and Tim Seifert on the crease. While Seifert was batting on 12, Allen had yet to score his first run of the night.
The catch miss perhaps mostly because of the confusion between Quinton de Kock and Dewald Brevis, as both of them went for the catch. Measuring the distance between the ball’s trajectory line and the position of the fielders, Brevis was nearer than the wicket keeper.
But it was Quinton de Kock who eventually went for the catch, and Brevis was then only a spectator. If the wicketkeeper was able to successfully pull off the stunner, then no one would blame him. But as the chance dropped, de Kock will have to take the responsibility for the action he took.
A moment of confusion between Quinton de Kock and Dewald Brevis resulted in the catch being missed
After the conclusion of the momentum, de Kock and Brevis exchanged some words with each other as well. It was not clear what they were told to each other, but the reaction of the bowler, Kagiso Rabada was describing the whole story. Under disappointment, he was shaking his head, and then turned back for the next delivery.
The drop catch can result in costing the match as well for the South Africa cricket team, who had been undefeated before the Semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2026.
With an extra lifeline, both of the Kiwi openers registered a half-century each. Tim Seifert departed first, after scoring a well-earned 58 off 33 with seven 4s and a couple of 6s.
Before heading back towards the pavilion, for the first wicket stand, Allen and Seifert stitched a partnership of 117 runs, which took New Zealand on the doorstep to the Final of the T20 World Cup 2026.
South African bowlers tried their best to stop the openers, but their efforts mostly remained ineffective.
