It is one of those moments that will live on, not only in the minds of fans who witnessed it from the Gabba's grandstands last night but for television viewers worldwide as cricket highlights are aired ad infinitum over coming decades.
Ricky Ponting assured himself a slice of immortality when he hurled himself backwards and plucked a most unlikely catch in his outstretched right hand during yesterday's decisive one-day final against Sri Lanka in Brisbane.
And like the equally memorable snares hauled in by fellow classic catchers John Dyson and Mark Taylor, Ponting's moment of brilliance was spawned by a fundamental miscalculation.
Stationed inside the restrictive fielding circle at mid-wicket, Ponting's initial reaction when Sri Lanka's Russel Arnold flicked a ball from Nathan Bracken high into the air was that he needed to simply back-pedal a few steps.
But as the ball's arc continued to broaden and it carried farther and farther over the Australia captain's head, he suddenly sensed he had erred by not turning and running back with its flight in order to pouch it as it descended over his left shoulder.
In order to avoid embarrassment and capture the vital wicket of Sri Lanka's last remaining recognised batsman, Ponting launched himself backwards and stuck out his right paw in what - at the time - seemed little more than a speculative gesture.
Not only did the ball settle in the middle of his palm, it remained stuck there as he crashed to the ground, much to the euphoria of the crowd, the astonishment of his teammates and despair of Arnold.
Ponting's catch will not just be honoured in any number of memorabilia items due to flood the market from today, it will live on in the same way Dyson's and Taylor's have in decades past.
Dyson, the former Test opener and one-time football goalkeeper, set the benchmark for the 1980s with his spectacular leap to catch a fly ball from West Indies tailender Sylvester Clarke at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1982.
Fielding at deep mid-wicket for off spinner Bruce Yardley, Dyson had drifted too far in from the fence and was forced - like Ponting - to scuttle backwards before hurling himself in goalie-style to wrap both hands around the ball as he fell back to earth.
Taylor's magic miss-cum-memory also happened at the SCG, in 1996, when he clutched at a sharp slips chance off West Indies star Carl Hooper, who had edged occasional spinner Michael Bevan.
As he reeled off balance in surprise and fell backwards, Taylor instinctively thrust out his foot and knocked the ball back up and completed the catch while laying prostrate on the turf.
Many other catches in recent years have staked a claim for a berth in the highlights archive, not least Andrew Symonds' one-handed grab at cover and his diving effort in the deep, both taken yesterday.
But for sheer outrageous skill coupled with defiance of physics and the odds, Ponting's catch will hold special significance for all cricket fans who saw it.
And television producers with airtime to fill.
- ANDREW RAMSEY