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The IPL game between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday, April 10 2025, was witness to some exceptional efforts on the field.
Out of the 11 wickets fallen on the day, 10 were caught dismissals. There was only a dropped chance -- that too a tough one -- when K L Rahul was dropped by RCB Skipper Rajat Patidar at extra cover.
Rahul, who was on 5 then, fully capitalised on the missed chance with a scintillating 93 to propel DC to their fourth win on the bounce.
Mitchell Starc, known for his raw pace and laser-like accuracy, took a sensational running catch to dismiss Virat Kohli to break a crucial partnership.
Kohli was looking to stitch a partnership with Skipper Rajat Patidar after RCB lost two quick wickets when Starc came with the breakthrough off Vipraj Nigam's bowling.
The moment unfolded in the 7th over when leg-spinner Vipraj tried to outfox Kohli with a loopy leg-break. As Kohli reached out on the drive, the ball dipped and turned across and he ended up mishitting into play.
As the ball was about to drop down in no man's land, Starc sprinted to his left from long-off and slid to complete a fine two-handed catch.
It was a vital wicket under the circumstances as Kohli was operating smartly with a 14-ball 22.
RCB lost their way after this wicket, losing wickets in a heap in the next five overs.
Although Jitesh Sharma came up with an awful batting performance, scoring a lethargic 3 off 11 overs, he pulled off two brilliant catches to keep RCB in the game.
In the 3rd over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, DC Opener Jake Fraser-McGurk played a silly swipe across the line off a 131-kph back of a length ball around off stump. He only managed to edge it behind and the ball swirled in the night sky.
Jitesh acted swiftly, moving to his left and putting in the dive. Despite fumbling on the first attempt, he managed to grab it on the second, exhibiting good reflexes to complete the catch after the ball almost popped out of his gloves.
Fraser-McGurk, who has the ability to single-handedly change the course of the match with his aggressive hitting, departed after making just 7 off 6 balls. A key wicket indeed!
Jitesh came up with a similar effort in the 5th over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar to send back Impact Sub Abhishek Porel. He tried to hit a short of a length ball across the line. He was out of position to go for the pull and got a big top-edge.
The ball went high up in the sky and Jitesh had enough time to settle under it. As he could not read the ball's trajectory, Jitesh moved back a bit and put in a dive to his left to complete the catch. Porel was out for 7 off 7 balls. And DC were 30-3 in 5 overs when he departed.
Photographs: BCCI