Delhi Capitals (DC) wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel took a blinder on April 11 to get rid of the Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma. But, according to Porel the catch was not a fluke as he had been practising it beforehand. Even the DC social media handle posted a video where Porel was seen practising such catches.
Porel, who plays for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy was picked above Sarfaraz Khan for his wicketkeeping ability. Earlier, Sarfaraz was fulfilling the duties behind the stumps as Rishabh Pant is not a part of this year’s IPL after surviving horrific car accident.
The sensational catch which saw Rohit Sharma head back to the pavilion was taken in the 17th over of MI’s run chase. The ‘Hitman’ tried to guide a wide yorker from Mustafizur Rahman towards the third man region but did not get enough bat on it and was within Porel’s range. The 20-year-old flew to his right to grab a stunner which ended Sharma's innings.
Despite Rohit’s departure, MI were rest assured of two points as the match went into the final over courtesy Anrich Nortje and Bangladesh left-arm pacer for their death bowling. It was a thriller of a match that ended on the last ball as MI got the better off DC to end their losing streak.
Rohit who scored his first fifty after 808 days was seen back in form as he top-scored for Mumbai with 65 runs from 45 balls. Meanwhile, Tilak Varma (41) and Ishan Kishan (31) too chipped in with valuable contributions. Piyush Chawla and Jason Behrendorff both took three wickets each as MI bundled out DC for 172 runs.
It was not a great start for Delhi once again as they lost wickets in cluster in the middle overs. David Warner played the role of an anchor with his 47-ball 51 as Axar Patel in the latter half accelerated the scoring rate with 54 runs of just 25 balls. The bowling department of DC didn't make any inroads as Mukesh Kumar claimed two wickets with Rahman chipping in with one.
While it was MI’s first victory on the board for this year's IPL, DC remain winless after playing four games.
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