IPL 2022: [Watch] Glenn Maxwell's one-handed flying catch sends back Shubman Gill
Glenn Maxwell has won Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) matches with both bat and ball in IPL 2022. On Thursday, the Australian all-rounder set the tone for them in a must-win encounter against Gujarat Titans (GT) with a superb fielding effort.
The Titans opted to bat first on the dry Wankhede track. Opener Shubman Gill poked at a wide away swinger against Josh Hazlewood on the third ball of the third over.
The youngster's feet didn't move and he went after it with hard hands, making the thick outside edge fly off the bat to the left of the wicketkeeper.
It was all part of Hazlewood's plan as he had set Maxwell at wide slip for exactly that. But the ball was traveling fast and for a moment seemed like it might pass the Aussie.
But Maxwell was up for it and put in a full-stretched dive to his right and across and grabbed it off thin air. Unlike Gill, he reached out to it with soft hands which didn't let the ball pop out even though it was only going away from him.
You can watch it here:
Glenn Maxwell just threw the ball in the air jubilantly before his teammates, starting with an ever-animated Virat Kohli, embraced him. The wicket reduced the Titans to 21-1 in 2.3 overs.
Gill concluded the league stage of the tournament with 404 runs and will get at least two more games in the playoffs to breach the 500-run mark.
Check out the IPL timetable here.
Glenn Maxwell gets rid of Matthew Wade in the sixth over
That was the last over of the powerplay. 😎
Brilliant from Maxi! 🤩
#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2022 #Mission2022 #RCB #ನಮ್ಮRCB #RCBvGT https://t.co/NbEkG2e8OJ
The Australian didn't stop at the catch. Faf du Plessis brought him to bowl in the fourth over itself. He finished it off economically.
In his next over, the sixth of the match, and a crucial one considering it was the last of the powerplay, he got rid of Matthew Wade LBW on the second ball, reducing the Titans to 38-2.