Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Shimron Hetmyer made a brave call to go all-in with a diving effort to dismiss Gujarat Titans (GT) all-rounder Washington Sundar at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday, April 28. The Caribbean international was one of the three fielders going for a skier, and avoided a collision with Yudhvir Singh Charak to claim a brilliant catch.
GT, cruising through the entire innings after being put into bat, were on the lookout for a final flourish. Washington Sundar came into bat at No.4 after skipper Shubman Gill’s dismissal in the 17th over. The left-handed batter struck a six off Jofra Archer in the early stages of his innings to get underway.
He had to go hard after stuttering a touch, and also with the innings approaching its end. In the penultimate over bowled by Sandeep Sharma, Sundar went for a huge heave through the off side against a slower delivery, and could only get elevation without distance.
Initially, it seemed like the ball would end up in no-man’s land. But the staggering hang time brought the fielders running towards it into play. Both cover and long-off cane charging in for the catch, and with eyes generally on the ball in such cases, the risk of a collision was quite high.
They came charging in, and Hetmyer remained committed to the catch and did not back out. Yudhvir Singh Charak, on the other hand, running backwards judged that Hetmyer had a better chance, proceeded to swerve at the last minute. Despite a fielder being in his periphery the whole time, Hetmyer was unfazed and dove at the last second to pouch a low catch.
Have a look at the brilliant piece of fielding right here:
GT were placed at 193-3 after Sundar’s departure. Shahrukh Khan and Jos Buttler were able to add some valuable runs in the dying stages of the innings to push the total to 209-4 in the end.
Shimron Hetmyer had dropped a sitter to give Sai Sudharsan a reprieve earlier in the innings
Although the Caribbean ace held onto a tough chance, he had spilled a simple opportunity in the early stages of the match. He dropped a catch at cover in the second over of the innings off Maheesh Theekshana’s bowling.
Sai Sudharsan had played a hard-hitting drive straight to Hetmyer inside the circle. But the fielder could not hold onto the ball. The IPL 2025 Orange Cap holder was batting on just 9. The drop proved to be costly as the batter went on to score 30 more runs, playing a key role in a 93-run partnership for the opening wicket.
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Edited by Gokul Nair
