Catch turns Kiwi into star

Mount Maunganui - Unheralded teenager Bevan Small looks like taking the honours for the most famous piece of cricketing action ever in New Zealand's domestic Twenty20 league after his athletic leap to facilitate a catch went viral over the weekend.

VIDEO: Bevan Small's athletic leap

The 19-year-old was 12th man when the Central Stags met the Northern Districts last Friday at Mount Maunganui and was fielding as a substitute when batsman Brad Wilson walloped the ball high and hard towards him.

The ball looked to have cleared the boundary for six but Small soared into the air back over the boundary rope and, still airborne, managed to flick the ball into the hands of team-mate Michael Mason, who was backing up.

Footage of the catch has attracted tens of thousands of views on YouTube.

However, the catch did little to influence the outcome of the match, with the Northern Districts claiming an easy eight-wicket victory.