The Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings (DC vs PBKS) match on Saturday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium not only became an exhibition for the batters but also showcased a plethora of catch misses. Multiple drop chances tilted the momentum of the game again and again.
PBKS remained the only undefeated team in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season as they successfully chased down the massive target of 265 runs within the 20-over limit. Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer dismantled the home side, the Delhi Capitals.
Delhi Capitals’ fielder Karun Nair dropped a sitter of Shreyas Iyer
Karun Nari turned out to be the villain for the Delhi Capitals, as he dropped two chances of Shreyas Iyer. In the 15th over of the second innings, Karun Nari, the substitute fielder of DC, dropped an absolute sitter. Iyer was 29 when he was dropped for the second time. The first catch missed by Nair was in 14.6 overs.
After the match, DC captain Axar Patel was visibly frustrated with the lack of cluster fielding efforts by his team. During the post-match presentation ceremony, he stated that without providing support to the bowlers, it was difficult to win the match.
Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel was unhappy with the fielding efforts
“Looking at the kind of wicket, if you don’t support your bowlers and keep giving away so many chances, then I feel we deserved to lose. That’s the main point. It was a good pitch and a small ground, so sixes were always going to be hit. However, when opportunities arise, and you don’t take even one, you drop chances, as we did today,” Axar Patel said, without mentioning Karun Nair’s name.
“On a wicket like this, if you don’t back your bowlers, it becomes difficult. At the same time, we also need to look at our bowling unit. The way we bowled in the powerplay, the fast bowlers, the fielding, and the opportunities we missed were the main reasons,” he continued.
Even on a batting-friendly track, the target of 265 was very hard to chase down, and that too with ease. That drop in chances of Shreyas Iyer eventually cost DC the match.
KL Rahul’s century went in vain
In the first innings, KL Rahul was also dropped. During the initial stage of the first innings, when the Delhi Capitals opener was not settled on the pitch, PBKS fielder Shashank Singh dropped a simple catch. Rahul concluded his innings by scoring a masterful, unbeaten 152-run knock from 67 balls, the highest individual run recorded by any Indian batter in the history of the Indian Premier League.
As PBKS won the match, there was not too much talk around the Shashank Singh’s catch drop moment. Despite being on the losing side, KL Rahul was handed the Player of the Match award. PBKS won the match because of their team’s strategy. Before Shreyas Iyer’s innings, it was Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya who offered Punjab a solid foundation to make a historical run chase possible.
