Mitchell Swepson stunned the cricket world and Daniel Hughes on Monday in the Sheffield Shield, bowling the NSW opener for 16 with a delivery that was reminiscent of a Shane Warne stunner.
Swepson was playing his first Shield match of 2021 after being sidelined for several months with a neck injury and roared to life to record the first wicket of the second innings.
The 27-year old’s delivery was pitched way outside off stump but the spinning ball left Hughes rattled.
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It immediately drew comparisons to Warne’s famous delivery to Shivnarine Chanderpaul in 1996 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Teammate Marnus Labuschagne, who impressed with the bat, was quick to praise his teammate for making an immediate impact in his return.
“The boys were really up and about and said it was a very good ball,” he said.
“Just once again proving to be the difference for us just like he was at the start of the season.”
Is that REALLY a catch?
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Labuschagne was the best with the bat in hand on Monday, hitting 11 fours to bring up 112 runs – totalling 629 now during the summer at 69.88.
At stumps Queensland led NSW by three runs, with the Blues on 2-49.
Swepson also picked up the wicket of Kurtis Patterson and while he made a statement with the highlight delivery to Hughes, Nathan Lyon also impressed with 5-128 from 48.2 overs.
He took five of the top seven wickets for NSW and now has 39 wickets for the summer.
Swepson though now has 27 wickets in four matches this Shield season, behind Lyon, Jackson Bird and Scott Boland.