IPL 2022: [Watch] Karun Nair drops regulation catch to deprive Yuzvendra Chahal of hat-trick
Rajasthan Royals (RR)'s Karun Nair dropped a regulation catch to deprive teammate Yuzvendra Chahal of a much-deserved hat-trick against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2022 at the DY Patil Sports Academy on Saturday.
Chahal had bowled well to dismiss Tim David and Daniel Sams in consecutive deliveries in the 16th over of MI's chase of 194. RR skipper Sanju Samson placed a slip and a leg-gully for the hat-trick ball and the leggie hurled it to Murugan Ashwin according to the field.
Ashwin just hung back and put his bat forward, allowing the ball to take a clean outside edge to the left of Nair at slip. The substitute fielder was a bit late to react and dived with hard hands, making the ball pop out. You can watch the video of the dropped catch below:
It's almost hattrick for Yuzi. #IPL2022 https://t.co/WF2xtRdZ2c
David was outfoxed with a classic leg-break which turned from leg-stump to hit him on the pads in front of the middle stump. Meanwhile, Sams tried to go for a big hit over long-on on his first ball. The edge went to square-leg and Jos Buttler completed a stunning catch running back from in-field.
Had Nair taken the catch, it would have been the first hat-trick of the season. It would also have been Chahal's first hat-trick in the IPL and the 21st overall in the tournament.
However, the missed chance didn't prompt any hard feelings. After the over, Nair looked apologetically at the bowler. However, the latter cheered him up with a friendly chat and a pat on the cap.
Yuzvendra Chahal's game-changing spell wins it for RR
Beautiful gesture by Chahal to go near Karun Nair and make him happy. https://t.co/GwQm564N70
The match was evenly poised before the leg-spinner's over with MI at 136-4. The twin strike not only took out MI's two power-hitters but also forced Kieron Pollard at the other end to slow down his game. He looked at sea in the final overs and RR did well to ultimately win the match by 23 runs.