Catching a cricket ball with one hand is an exceptional and rare ability even for the best fielders. Nevertheless, the fans in the stands keep on astonishing with one-handed catches whenever sixes go into their area. To appreciate such events and also to generate excitement in the stadium, the South Africa Twenty20 (SA20) league has put in place a very appealing fan engagement strategy known as ‘Catch2Million’.

In this contest, when a batter hits a six, and a spectator catches the ball neatly with one hand, without any mistake, that fan gets the chance to win 2 million South African rand, approximately equal to ₹1.08 crore. If during the tournament there are several spectators who make such catches, the prize money is divided equally among them.

The SA20’s fourth season started on December 26 and in the first three games has already seen three catchers in the crowd executing astounding one-handed catches. The six that was hit by Ryan Rickelton which was one-handed caught by a fan in the audience during the ex-Match between MI Cape Town and Durban Super Giants is just one of them. In the match between Pretoria Capitals and Joburg Super Kings, two spectators did the same thing on successive balls.

It was during the 14th over of Pretoria Capitals’ Bryce Parsons that Joburg Super Kings batter Wiaan Mulder hit two sixes in a row and that the fans grabbed the balls instantly and became ‘Catch2Million’ winners. SA20 later uploaded videos of these happenings on social media, and the videos became instantly viral.

The ‘Catch2Million’ plan has been associated with the league since its very first season in 2023. So in the inaugural season, nine fans turned into millionaires, then followed by eight in the next season and thirteen in the third. There are 34 matches allotted this season including the final already creating a buzz about the exclusivity of the list and how many more names will be there by season end.