Rajasthan Royals had almost dropped one of the most simplest of catches to pick the first wicket in Indian Premier League 2023 Match 23 against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad tonight.
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One of the most chaotic displays on the part of a total of three fielders, it involved captain Sanju Samson and batters Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel finding themselves on the wrong end of both calling and execution to nearly hand a reprieve to Titans wicket-keeper batter Wriddhiman Saha (4).
It all happened on the third delivery of the match when Saha top-edged a delivery from Royals pacer Trent Boult. Samson, who should’ve called and grabbed the catch in the general run of things, did call but ended up dropping the catch on the back of interruptions from Hetmyer and Jurel.
Running towards his left from short mid-wicket, Hetmyer never seemed to have paid any heed to Samson shouting “Mine mine”. Jurel, on the contrary, ran towards his right from the off-side to always be hesitant about attempting the catch considering how two senior players were already trying to do the same.
What followed was the ball lobbing off Samson’s hands only to be caught by Boult. Been a witness to his teammates unintentionally looking to deny him a wicket for all this while, the 33-year old player completed a formality to send Saha back to the pavilion.
Twitter User Left Puzzled as Trent Boult Catches Ball After 3 Fielders Miss Simple Catch at Narendra Modi Stadium
Rajasthan Royals need 178 runs to win
In spite of picking a wicket in his first over itself, Boult returned with expensive bowling figures of 4-0-46-1. Hero of the last match, Rajasthan pacer Sandeep Sharma was the pick of their bowlers with figures of 4-0-25-2. Spinners Adam Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal, meanwhile, picked a wicket apiece.
Put in to bat first by Samson at the Narendra Modi Stadium on a Sunday night, Gujarat scored 177/7 in 20 overs primarily due to contributions from David Miller (46) and Shubman Gill (45). With a lot of dew already making its presence felt at this venue, defending 178 runs won’t be a mean task for the home team.
