Website of the YearThe Black Caps were involved in yet another thrilling finish in their T20 match against Sri Lanka this morning – this time, ending up on the right side of the result thanks to some truly bizarre scenes.
With four balls remaining, and seven runs required, Mitchell Santner hit Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga to the wide long-on boundary.
Racing around from long-on, Shehan Jayasuriya claimed a superb running catch, only to collide with teammate Kusal Mendis, who was sprinting across from mid-wicket.
The pair painfully clashed knees – sending Jayasuriya into the boundary rope, still clutching the ball.
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Advertise with NZME.As both lay prone on the ground, the umpires – just as baffled as everyone else – initially signaled four, before correctly reversing their decision to make it a six, as Jayasuriya hadn't released the ball before sprawling into the rope.
Read full match report: Black Caps involved in truly, truly bizarre finish to Twenty20 clash with Sri Lanka
Predictably, social media went wild, with many referencing the World Cup final superover drama earlier this year.
After the game, Black Cap Tom Bruce was thankful to be on the winning side after such a thrilling finish.
"It was sort of heart in the mouth stuff," Bruce told Radio Sport Breakfast. "The boys saw that the ball was going up and just the trajectory it looked like it was going to fall ... and unfortunately those two boys collided and fortunately for us it was deemed a six. It's the way it goes. Could've easily gone the other way."