Everybody who takes a great catch these days is compared with the greatest fielder in the world Jonty Rhodes. Look at this woman cricketer of South Africa. Mignon Du Preez is currently playing ICC Women’s Championship in Australia. And she did something that brought her into limelight. She is being compared with Jonty Rhodes. Obviously she took a great catch that is why she is getting the honour.
This happened in the second game of the championship. Du Preez caught a superb catch at point. Australian opener Nicole Bolton was slapped the ball and was trying to hit the ball above the fielder. The ball was far away from the fielder. But it was not to be. The fielder was Du Preez.
However, the superb catch didn’t stop Australia from putting up a huge total. They made 278 runs. South Africa in reply could score only 119 runs after the target was revised under Duckworth/Lewis system. They lost the match 66 runs.
Du Preez is a good batsmen also. She has played 80 ODI matches and has made 2065 runs at an average of 31.16. She has hit 2 centuries and 9 half-centuries. This catch has put her class apart. Why is she being compared to Jonty? Here is the answer. Take this catch for instance. Here Jonty almost took a similar catch.
This is not the only great catch Jonty Rhodes had taken. Jonty was a live wire at the field.
Jonty Rhodes had been taking these catches all his career. In his ODI career, Jonty Rhodes took 105 catches, many of them impossible. In Tests, he took 34 catches. Also, he saved tons of runs every match. Many said that he was the only cricketer who maintained his position in the team just because of his fielding prowess. But this is a wrong assessment. He was a decent batsman as well. He scored 5935 runs in ODIs with an average of 35.11.
