Pakistan batting wizard Babar Azam was fighting a losing cause, as he launched an assault on Blackcaps bowler Matt Henry.
At 108/3, he had lost righthand man Fakhar Zaman and his team needed more than 15 runs an over to chase down a daunting New Zealand total at Dunedin's University Oval.
As Henry tossed up a short-pitched delivery, Babar swatted the ball flat towards the square-leg boundary and over the fence, felling an unsuspecting spectator, who had forgotten the old rule about keeping your eye on the ball.
"That has absolutely taken out that punter," marvelled TVNZ commentator Scotty Stevenson. "It was flat and straight at him, but he's OK.
"Good recovery. He must have felt like he had been sniped."
Babar watched the path of his shot and held his head in horror, as the man went down, but the hardy southerner bounced straight back up and continued his circuit of the ground, acknowledging the crowd's concern.
Almost unnoticed in the commotion, another nearby fan gratefully accepted the deflection to complete a neat boundary catch.
Babar lasted another three overs and reached 58, before he was caught inside the rope by Glenn Phillips, and Pakistan ultimately fell 45 runs short of victory.
