Spencer Johnson takes a stunning catch (Screengrab/@MLCricket)
Marcus Stonis scored a quickfire 37 off 18 deliveries before he was caught by Spencer in a spectacular fashion.
Los Angeles Knight Riders’ Spencer Johnson pulled off a stunner to send Marcus Stoinis back to the dressing room during a high-scoring Major League Cricket (MLC) clash against San Francisco Unicorns at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. Stonis came out to bat following the dismissal of opening batter Finn Allen and the Aussie all-rounder seemed to be in brilliant form. The Aussie all-rounder scored a quickfire 37 off 18 deliveries before he was caught by Spencer in a spectacular fashion. Stoinis’ stunning knock comprised three boundaries and as many sixes.
In the third delivery of the 12th over, Stonis tried to clear the boundary over the long-off region, picking up an outside-off delivery from Andre Russell. But the San Francisco all-rounder could not connect the ball well as he was baffled by the slow pace.
Johnson was positioned near the boundary rope when Stoinis’ sky-high shot seemed to be landing in no man’s land. Johnson followed the trajectory of the ball as he sprinted forward. The Aussie pacer dived towards his left with his body in full stretch. The ball ended up landing into the clasp of Johnson and the Los Angeles fielder immediately broke into an emphatic celebration. A clip of Johnson’s blinder was shared by the official Twitter handle of the MLC. “Spencer Johnson takes a brilliant dive to get Marcus Stoinis,” read the caption of the post.
San Francisco opening batter Matthew Wade earned a solid start for his side in the match against Los Angeles. The wicketkeeper-batter struck 78 runs off just 41 deliveries. After Wade’s opening partner Finn Alenn left early to the dressing room, Stoinis came to the crease and went all guns blazing.
Before losing his wicket, he smashed his Australian teammate Adam Zampa for 24 runs in an over. Corey Anderson also showed off his big-hitting prowess later in the innings. Powered by Anderson’s 39-run cameo, San Francisco posted a mammoth total of 212 losing seven wickets.
For Los Angeles Knight Riders, their opening pair — Jason Roy and Unmukt Chand — kicked off the run chase on a promising note, stitching a partnership of 55 runs. But their middle order failed to keep the scoreboard ticking. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine tried to pull Los Angeles out of the danger, scoring 42 and 28 runs respectively. But their brilliance with the bat went in vain as Los Angeles fell short of the target by 21 runs.
