Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer celebrates victory over Delhi Capitals (ANI Photo) New Delhi: It was the 16th in the second innings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Delhi Capitals fielder Karun Nair stroked his face in shock and then a wry smile appeared. Punjab Kings batsman and skipper Shreyas Iyer was also all smiles. Kuldeep Yadav could do nothing but smile in frustration as well.A while ago, DC spinner Vipraj Nigam was a frustrated man on the bay. Nair shook his head as he raced forward to retrieve the ball that had slipped out of his reach.
Watch
“We didn’t play good cricket” – Mahela Jayawardene after MI’s biggest IPL loss vs CSKTwice over three balls, Karun Nair got behind the bowler’s head – at long on and long on and let two chances go.In the first, Iyer in the 28th went for a big shot, played against the turn and the front edge went comfortably towards Nair. The thirty-four-year-old man took a few steps forward, got his hands under him, but wasn’t secure enough.Two balls later, Shreyas, now on 35, miscued Kuldeep Yadav’s delivery, saw the ball heading towards Nair, the Karnataka player got under it only to hit the ground.Perhaps making matters worse was the fact that just five deliveries earlier substitute Nair was a safe pair of hands at long-on, much closer to the boundary rope, sending Nehal Wadhera back for 25.Iyer remained unbeaten in 71 runs off 36 balls on the back of three fours and seven sixes. This is 43 runs more than when Karun was dropped in the first instance and 36 runs later than in the second instance.DC captain Axar Patel’s frustration was palpable in the post-match presentation. “We keep making the same mistakes. If you don’t back the bowlers on wickets like that, I think you deserve to lose,” he said as PBKS reached 265 runs with seven balls to spare for the highest run chase in IPL history, breaking their own record.Karun Nair was not the only player to have a disastrous day in the field. Shashank Singh has been the main player for Punjab this season. He dropped three catches against Lucknow Super Giants and added one more to that unfortunate tally. Like Karun, the batter – in this case KL Rahul – capitalized.The reactions were similar to those that took place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium later in the day. The anxiety of the ball heading towards the fielder on one side, combined with the excitement of the ball approaching and the goal approaching.KL Rahul pulled an Arshdeep Singh short delivery towards Shashank. Flat shot, comfortable height for Shashank on the square leg edge. However, the inverted cup went horribly wrong, and the facial expressions instantly changed. Arshdeep’s celebration and finger waving turned into surprise. A head in the hands of a Delhi Capitals supporter has taken to dancing. Meanwhile, KL Rahul looked towards the sky in prayer.Prayers were needed again in the 10th over.Vijay Kumar Vyshak got his second over, KL Rahul had just crossed the 50-run mark. The outside kick was chipped back in a hurry, Vyshak took a touch on the inbounds but couldn’t hold on as the ball hit his shin and rolled to safety.KL Rahul went on to score an unbeaten 152 runs off 67 balls with 16 boundaries and nine sixes. He now holds the record for the highest individual score by an Indian in the IPL and the third highest overall – behind Chris Gayle (175*) and Brendon McCullum (158*).Here’s the math for you again. The 34-year-old scored 140 more runs when he was dropped by Shashank in the first instance and 101 runs after the second instance with Vyshak.Much will, rightly, be made of PBKS’ massive chase heralded by the ‘sarpanch’, their never-say-die attitude and the sheer insanity of a team that has scored 264 runs and is still losing. But 529 runs, 49 boundaries and 33 sixes later, it was the four dropped catches that made all the difference.
