Watch: James Neesham does a Herschelle Gibbs, drops Joe Root in a bizarre fashion in SA20

New Zealand allrounder James Neesham, on Saturday (January 25), did a Herschelle Gibbs as he dropped Joe Root's catch even after catching the ball at first.

The incident took place during the game between Paarl Royals and Pretoria Capitals at Boland Park, Paarl. The veteran allrounder made the blunder in the fifth over when Australia's Jason Behrendorff was bowling to Joe Root.

On the final ball of the over, the left-arm pacer bowled a short ball and Root pulled the ball towards deep square leg. At first, it looked like the ball would cross the boundary rope with ease. However, James Neesham had other ideas. The Pretoria Capitals star ran towards his right and caught the ball with both hands.

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As soon as he completed the catch, Behrendorff and other Pretoria Capitals players started celebrating. However, their joy did not last long as James Neesham failed to complete the catch. After taking the catch, he continued running and the ball slipped out of his right hand.

"He's done a Herschelle Gibbs," commentator Pommie Mbangwa said on air.

The ball then hit his thigh and deflected away. He did try to catch the ball but failed. To make the matter worse, the ball ran away towards the fence. As a result, Root not only got a reprieve but a four as well. The decision was referred to the third umpire who eventually gave his decision in the favour of the batsman.

Watch as James Neesham drops Joe Root in a bizarre manner:

🚨 ONE OF THE STRANGE MOMENT IN CRICKET 🚨

- Neesham re created Gibbs off 1999...!!! pic.twitter.com/a4kFOMqklw

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 25, 2025

For those who don't know, former South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs had done something similar against Australia in the 1999 World Cup. On that occasion, he had dropped Australia great Steve Waugh because of his premature celebration. Waugh had gone on to play an unbeaten knock of 120 runs. That incident eventually played a huge role in South Africa's ouster from the World Cup.

Joe Root makes James Neesham pay a big price:

Just like Steve Waugh, Joe Root also made the most of the reprieve he got from James Neesham. The England great was batting on only 13 runs when Neesham dropped him. He went on to play an unbeaten knock of 78 runs on a tough batting pitch.

Thanks to Root's knock, Pretoria Capitals recovered from 41/3 to post a competitive total of 140/4. In reply, Paarl Royals were on 23/3 after 6 overs at the time of writing this report.