Leaping into the air, the lanky Trinidadian medium-pacer with the trademark tan mohawk took a spectacular right-hand catch, gripping the ball even as he tumbled at mid-on. For that dazzling instance, the fieldsman appeared to defy not only Guyanese gravity but all of his 37 years. Against the deafening roars of approval from the Providence crowds, the watching Pakistani bowler strolled back looking most amused, as the bearded victim unexpectedly smiled broadly, visibly declaring “Wow!” in admiration and shaking his helmet-covered red head in complete disbelief.
Just over a month ago, cricketer Rayad Emrit proved the master of the mercurial moment and the temporary toast of fickle fans, for the stunned Barbados Tridents’ batsman walking back to the pavilion was the elegant New Zealander, Martin Guptill, the world’s second highest scorer in One Day Internationals (ODIs). With huge grins, triumphant high-fives and joyous jumps, Emrit celebrated with thumping teammates from the Amazon Warriors side, including the exciting pair of hard-hitters, lead-scorer Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford.
Days later, Hetmyer, 21, became the youngest player to score a century in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), against the Jamaica Tallawahs. Rutherford almost broke the League’s record for the fastest 50, ending on 45 not out off 13 balls with one boundary and six sixes in an explosive encounter with the losing Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), captained by Dwayne Bravo who had a particularly testing time this season.