There are very few moments in cricket that give fans and players more of an adrenaline rush than a stunning catch on the boundary. If that catch is a one-handed blinder to dismiss the batsman who was taking the game completely away from the bowling side, it makes it that much more special.
Martin Guptill caught one tonight and words such as "blinder" and “stunner” don’t do it justice. Guptill's sensational catch to dismiss the destructive Lendl Simmons is the SK Play of the Day.
Watch the video here.
A catch that will be remembered in the years to come
Punjab's captain, Glenn Maxwell came on to bowl the 10th over of the innings to help his side contain the onslaught of Simmons and Parthiv Patel. After going for two singles on the first two balls, Maxwell lost his desired length by a distance and the ball turned out to be a low full toss for Simmons who was on 59 at that moment.
The bat made a sweet sound as it struck the ball and at that point, it looked like another maximum for Simmons.
Guptill was stationed at long on and took his time to assess the speed of the ball and the trajectory at which it was arriving. He jumped to perfection with both feet off the ground, took a one-handed catch and landed safely on both legs. The New Zealander made it look so easy but in reality, it was a truly magnificent effort.
Watch Guptill’s stunner here.
Simmons was taking the game away but fell to a catch which will give Kieran Pollard and Chris Lynn's catches in the past a run for their money.
This was inarguably the catch of Vivo IPL 10 and will go down as the finest by a Kings XI Punjab player. But the crucial wicket might not have stood as Maxwell was inches away from bowling a no ball. The umpires checked the legality of the delivery and decided to give Simmons his marching orders at the end but it was a very close decision which went in favour of Guptill and the Kings.
How the game panned out
Punjab posted a massive 230 on the board in the first innings courtesy of a brilliant knock by Wriddhiman Saha who was promoted to open the innings tonight. The wicketkeeper repaid the selectors’ faith by scoring a 55 ball 93. Mumbai started their innings with intent and at one stage it looked like the openers would take the game away from Punjab.
Simmons crossed the 50-run mark in quick time as the West Indian power hitter smacked the bowlers left, right and centre. The Indians crossed the 100-run barrier in the 9th over itself and Punjab looked like they had lost the plot but then arrived the moment of magic. Guptill, who failed to make the most of his quickfire start in the first half of the game, made amends by taking a stunner at long-on and tilting the game in Punjab's favour.
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