Manish Pandey smashed bowlers all around the park during his 45-ball 60 runs knock in the 2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat. Pandey, captain of the Karnataka state team, led from the front scoring a fine half-century to guide his team to 180/5 in 20 overs. The 30-year-old Indian cricketer played an entertaining and important knock with the help of four boundaries and two sixes but wasn't the only talking point of the match. The biggest eye-catching moment came when a man was caught live on camera – after Pandey had smashed the ball out of the park– running away out of the ground with the ball in his hands.

The incident occurred during the ninth over of Karnataka innings when Pandey smashed Murugan Ashwin out of the park with a gigantic six over the bowler’s head. But if that got crowed roaring, they couldn’t hold back laughter when a man was caught stealing the ball live on camera and escaping out of the ground with the ball in his hands. Pandey, who had arrived at the crease after Ravi Ashwin had reduced Karnataka to 39/2 with the dismissals of KL Rahul (22) and Mayank Agarwal off successive deliveries, the latter for a first-ball duck.

Manish Pandey Clears Stadium Fan Steals Ball

Devdutt Padikkal was going well at the other end but the trio of Ashwin, Murugan and Washington Sundar had kept Manish Pandey strangled in his own crease. The Karnataka skipper was on 7 runs off 12 deliveries and had already seen enough. He decided to break the shackles and stepped out of the crease to launch himself on Murugan Ashwin. A towering six over straight over the bowler saw the ball land out of the ground. The fun act was, however, of a spectator who – having no knowledge that he was live on camera and on television – slowly escaped out of the ground with the ball in his hands.

Caught in the Act

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Hilariously, while the spectator certainly would have a new ball for himself and to play cricket, umpires in the match had to call for a new ball putting the game into a halt for some time. Pandey, who before the monstrous six, had survived a tough LBW call an over before the incident but didn’t look back after that.

Pandey first shared a 48-run stand for the fourth wicket with Padikkal before the latter’s dismissal and then went on to add another 65-run partnership with Rohan Kadam to take Karnataka past the 180-run mark in 20 overs. In reply, Tamil Nadu are struggling at 87/4 in 10 overs and need another 94 runs in 55 deliveries.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 01, 2019 10:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).