Cricket: Sinclair's catch fires up NZ

MELBOURNE - Nathan Astle could use convincing otherwise, but even he may have to begrudgingly agree that Mathew Sinclair's stunning one-handed outfield catch at the Telstra Dome last night shades his effort against South Africa at Napier five years ago.

Sinclair is an early, and perhaps unbackable, favourite for the catch of the summer after an airborne attempt to dismiss disbelieving Australian opener Matthew Hayden had hecklers biting their tongues in wide-eyed amazement when he dived full length to snare a pull shot centimetres above the turf.

"There's only one we've debated as a team as coming close... Nathan took a similar catch against South Africa," Fleming said, basking in the afterglow of an overdue four-wicket defeat of the world champions.

While Astle's effort to dismiss Shaun Pollock in front of a sightscreen at a murky McLean Park in March 1999 was laudable, Fleming thought Sinclair's pipped it, given the state of the game when it was taken.

Australia had raced to 64 -- a run rate of 7-1/2 per over -- when Jacob Oram's fifth ball was swung to the square leg fence.

Hayden on 13, and the crowd of 30,000 were anticipating a boundary when Sinclair raced around and held the catch before jumping up and pointing gleefully to the crowd.

"We were getting thumped once again on the back of a two-test series loss so it was a pretty special turn around," Fleming said of the timing of Sinclair's heroics.

The catch also caught the Black Caps' skipper's eye given the trouble the team had experienced fielding under the indoor venue's roof. The New Zealanders had difficulty distinguishing the ball from the ceiling. Low-set lights ringing the stadium -- instead of the usual light towers -- were also a problem.

"I think looking at conditions -- it was wet (surface), the ball was moving away -- and the way we've tried to catch two handed in our practice sessions to take one like that... I think you'll be hard pressed to find something better than that," Fleming said.

New Zealand won by four wickets. The second match of the series is on Wednesday.

- NZPA