'Maxi's catch was more satisfying but technically a little easier'

Two stunning catches by Mitchell Starc gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a great chance of defending a modest total against Kings XI Punjab, and the Australian felt that dismissing destructive batsman Glenn Maxwell with his brilliant effort was very "satisfying". 

Starc took two brilliant back-to-back catches of Wriddhiman Saha (2) and Maxwell (6) to reduce KXIP to 40 for three at one stage while they were chasing a small target of 125 for victory. At the end though, RCB lost by five wickets. 

"Maxi's catch was more satisfying because he has been scoring heavily and I was happy to get him out cheaply. It didn't do us any good in the end but I was happy to take a couple of good ones," said Maxwell. 

"Technically, however, I found Maxi's catch a little easier. Saha had hit the ball hard and I didn't know to which part of the boundary it was going.

"Also, I had to maintain my balance very close to the rope. For me, getting low in front is easier than the balancing act," he pointed out. The Royal Challengers boost of some of the fine fielders in their ranks, but Starc picked Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers as his favourites. 

"We've got some great fielders. We have AB patrolling the outfield. The ball hardly passes him. Virat is a class act and one of the best fielders in the world.

"It's hard to pick but probably Virat and AB are the best. Virat is also my favourite Indian fielder," Starc was quoted as saying by IPL official website.

Asked about his fellow Australian Chris Lynn's superb catch in the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and RCB a couple of days ago, Starc said, "If he'd held his feet in the air, it would have been even more spectacular. But still, it was a very, very good catch under pressure and it also won them the match. So, well done to Chris." 

Chasing 151, RCB fell short against KKR after an airborne Lynn stretched his body backwards at the deep midwicket fence to pull off a blinder and send back dangerman de Villiers to stage a dramatic fightback and pull off a two-run win in a thrilling last-ball finish at Sharjah.

Image: Mitchell Starc of Royal Challengers Bangalore takes a catch to help dismiss GlennMaxwell of Kings XI Punjab

Photo: BCCI