Scorchers young gun Aaron Hardie has quickly gone from incredible to terrible in the Qualifier final against the Sydney Sixers, in a moment that left cricket commentators stunned.
Hardie was Perth’s hero in the third over when he took a ripping one-handed catch at mid on to dismiss Kurtis Patterson and leave the Sixers struggling at 2-16.
But his brilliance in the field was quickly soured as he dropped a simple chance when danger man Steve Smith was on 12 a short time later.
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“How big a play is that!’ Fox Cricket’s Adam Gilchrist said.
“That’s an absolute sitter.”
Gilchrist was left so stunned by the Hardie drop, his jaw dropped in the commentary box.
“You’ve almost jumped out of your seat Gilly!” commentator Mark Waugh said.
“I don’t know how he’s dropped that!
“He’s just lost his feet. That’s just regulation.
“That’s just pressure – I can’t believe he’d ever drop a catch that easy in his whole cricket career.”
The big Smith drop overshadowed what had been an incredible day in the field for the 24-year-old Hardie.
Hardie had the Perth Stadium crowd on their feet when he leapt high and reeled in a one-handed screamer.
“Ohhhh! That is some catch! Hardie threw one hand up in front of 40,000 people,” commentator Mark Howard had praised.
“And that’s as good as we’ve seen this summer!”
Waugh said it was no surprise Hardie was able to reel in the speccy catch, given how good the Scorchers have been in the field.
“We talked about how important catching is and the Scorchers are as good as any team at it,” he said.
“That’s a spectacular catch from Aaron Hardie.
“He hasn’t had much time to have a look at that. He’s had to time the jump perfectly and that’s what he’s done.
“He’s just plucked it out of thin air.
“I think he was going to go with two hands to start with but had to reach a bit further and went with one.
“Not a lot of time to line it up, but he lined it up perfectly.”
Gilchrist described Hardie’s catch as “perfection”.
“The leap, knew he had to go with one hand,” he said.
“Just stuck it out and had the skills to drag it down.
“That was just absolute perfection. The timing, to stretch the hand out. He’s a big fella, great athleticism.
“It lifted all of us here in the commentary box!
“It was almost a surprise when you saw it stick in the hand.”
Luckily for the Scorchers, David Payne was able to snaffle a ripping caught and bowled to send Smith packing for 18 off 16.
