5 Incredible Catches We’ve seen in IPL 2018 so far

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If Test cricket is all about skill, patience and strategies, and ODI cricket is all about seizing key moments and executing set plans, what is T20 cricket? Well, it is an incredible blend of all that… in just about 200 minutes! The 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League is in progress at the moment and we couldn’t be any happier. As expected, it has brought about a whole lot of emotions, speculations and rivalries to life, thanks to 2.5 weeks of absolute mayhem, nail-biting finishes and high-intensity cricketing action.

Whether you talk about the opening game of the season or the one last night, you just cannot take your eyes off the action even for a moment, since the league is laden with flashes of brilliance with the ball, bat and in the field. We have already seen a good number of match-defining spells and whirlwind innings, but here’s going back to some of the most outstanding catches you will ever witness on a cricket field.

Charismatic catches: Our top picks from VIVO IPL 2018

#5

Manish Pandey

Match 10: KKR vs SRH (Eden Gardens, Kolkata) – 14th April 2018

With Robin Uthappa sent back by Bhuvneshwar Kumar early in the innings, it was up to Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana to steady the ship while also ensuring a good scoring rate. After hitting a six and a couple of fours, Rana looked like he was set for a big one. Batting on 18 off 15 balls, his eyes lit up in the seventh over when big Billy Stanlake from Australia served up a wide-ish delivery to him. He flashed hard at it and the ball screamed towards the point region where Manish Pandey was stationed. The ball flew off the bat and Manish caught a flight of his own, throwing himself to his right, literally parallel to the ground, going for the catch with both hands. What happened next makes it more interesting. The ball popped out of Pandey’s hands… but he managed to recover mid-air, clinging on to it on the second attempt. All of this happened within two or three seconds. This is where juggling Pandey took a Screamer from crowd which is why this catch makes it into our list of the top 5 catches of the IPL 2018 so far. 

#4

Hardik Pandya

Match 9: MI vs DD (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai) – 14th April 2018

14th April was indeed a day for spectacular fielding, with three unbelievable catches being taken in two different games. This one, with Delhi Daredevils chasing a mountain of a target (195), had its potential turning point when in the fourteenth over, the Pandya brothers broke the partnership between Jason Roy and The Big Show. Krunal Pandya bowled his second delivery slow through the air (it spun even slower off the turf) and Glenn Maxwell (13 off 5 balls), looking at the line of the delivery, decided to tonk it over extra cover. The slowness and turn meant it took the outside half of Maxi’s bat and it seemed like the ball would fall safely in no man’s land until this happened… an electric man sprinted from long off and dived full length and OMG! Soaring Hardik Takes a Blinder. It was athleticism at its best and his celebration was equally interesting, too.

#3

Shardul Thakur

Match 17: CSK vs RR (MCA Stadium, Pune) – 20th April 2018

After Shane Watson’s blitzkrieg, it was now up to the Chennai Super Kings bowlers to ensure that the Rajasthan Royals didn’t put up a fight with the bat. And they did just that. However, apart from the brilliant bowling, there was a moment in the match that is worth a mention. In the sixteenth over, when the game had already slipped out of RR’s hands, all-rounder Stuart Binny tried to pull a short one from Shardul Thakur. Beaten for pace and by the extra bounce, the ball took Binny’s top edge and went straight up. This man in his follow-through, went against the natural flow and changed direction, dashing towards the ball and diving forward to take one-handed stunning catch to send Binny back to pavilion. Don’t we absolutely love it when fast bowlers take acrobatic catches?

#2

Manish Pandey

Match 10: KKR vs SRH (Eden Gardens, Kolkata) – 14th April 2018

In the fourteenth over of this game, Dre Russ, as he is fondly referred to, sliced a Billy Stanlake delivery over backward point. No points for guessing who the fielder was! With no timing whatsoever, this one went high in the air, swirling towards the boundary. Manish, with his eyes on the ball over the shoulder, turned around and ran towards the ropes, diving at the right moment and pouching this difficult chance with both hands. Pandey’s heroics on the field helped big Billy earn the Man of the Match award for his two wickets.

#1

Trent Boult

Match 19: RCB vs DD (Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru) – 21st April 2018

What happens when you bowl a full toss on Virat Kohli’s pads? Well, nine times out of ten, it disappears into the stands. But this was an unlucky day for the RCB skipper as he flicked a thigh-high full toss from Harshal Patel powerfully to deep backward square leg. It went flat, it went hard and it went straight into Trent Boult’s right hand. Yes! Cruising along on 30 off 25 balls with AB at the other end, Virat thought he’d smacked that one, but Boult stuck his wrong hand out, turned around in the air and landed inches from the rope. The momentum with which he landed could have taken him over the line if he wasn’t alert enough – which the umpires checked for confirmation – but it was safe (and SPECTACULAR) and Kohli Falls to Catch of the Season. We had seen AB take a similar catch back in 2010 when he was playing for DD.

With the purple and orange caps being for exceptional performances with the bat and ball, we believe there should be one for stellar efforts in the field, too. What do you reckon? What are your top picks this season? Did we miss any catches worth a mention? Let us know in the Comments section below!

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