Delhi Daredevils player Trent Boult celebrates. Photo / AP
Delhi Daredevils player Trent Boult celebrates. Photo / AP
"Trent Boult, what are you doing? That is the best catch we have ever seen in the IPL!"
Those were the words of commentator Isa Guha after New Zealand seamer Boult pulled off a staggering one-handed catch on the boundary in Delhi Daredevils' clash against Royals Challengers Bangalore to dismiss Indian superstar Virat Kohli.
Kohli flicked a full toss from Harshal Patel to deep square leg — and watched on in amazement as Boult stuck out his non-preferred right-hand to catch a ball that looked destined to travel for six, before landing on his stomach inches from the rope.
"What a moment. Magic," uttered David Lloyd in commentary as the catch was confirmed and Kohli trudged off following a quite sensational piece of fielding from an understandably beaming Boult.
"I was stunned when he took it, that's a brilliant catch," Kohli said afterwards. "It happens in the IPL especially. That's a catch when you look back, you don't feel bad about getting out."
A night of what the.... in the #IPL2018 !! Trent Boults catch is as good a catch as you will ever see & ABD batting was an exhibition & all class !! Wow....
De Villiers' explosive half-century featured 10 fours and five huge sixes as Bangalore cruised to 4/176 in 18 overs to get a perfect tune-up with their next three matches at home.
They were chasing Delhi's 5/174, which was bolstered by Rishabh Pant (85) and Shreyas Iyer (52).
De Villiers finished off the match by hitting Boult for successive boundaries as Bangalore recorded a second victory from five games with two overs to spare.
"Some of those nights when I see the ball well, don't last. But tonight it was nice and clear," de Villiers said.
Big wins for Punjab and Bangalore in latest IPL round
Lokesh Rahul congratulates teammate Chris Gayle for scoring fifty runs. Photo / AP
Chris Gayle and Lokesh Rahul have smashed half-centuries to neutralise Chris Lynn's quickfire 74 for Kolkata as Kings XI Punjab went to the top of the Indian Premier League after routing the Knight Riders by nine wickets.
In Bangalore, AB de Villiers single-handedly lifted Royal Challengers Bangalore from the bottom of the table with a ruthless unbeaten 90 off just 30 balls to beat Glenn Maxwell's Delhi Daredevils by six wickets.
Gayle hit an unbeaten 62 off 38 balls and Rahul made 60 off just 27 deliveries as Punjab reached a winning 1-126 with 11 balls to spare at Eden Gardens.
Punjab's target was revised to 125 in 13 overs after rain stopped play for nearly 90 minutes with Australians Aaron Finch and Andrew Tye not required at the crease.
Before rain intervened, Gayle and Rahul carried Punjab to 0-96 off just 8.2 overs after Kolkata, sent into bat, were restricted to 7-191.
Punjab lead the table with four wins from five matches, while Kolkata have three from six.
Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman AB de Villiers. Photo / AP
"To be honest, I didn't strike it really well, but when you have momentum going, you need to capitalise," Gayle said.
Rahul smashed nine fours and two sixes before he top-edged a pull off Sunil Narine with Punjab needing just nine more runs.
Gayle raised the victory in style with his sixth six of the innings by smashing Tom Curran over the long-on boundary. He also hit five fours in an electrifying display.
"Me and Chris have spoken - we're gonna back our games. If he's going for it, doesn't mean I take the back seat," Rahul said.
"The approach is to stay aggressive and take the opposition down." Earlier, Kolkata stumbled once they lost top-scorer Lynn in the 16th over to countryman Tye (2-30).
Delhi Daredevils player Trent Boult celebrates. Photo / AP
Kolkata could score only 45 in the last five overs and big hitter Andre Russell departed for just 10.
"We don't plan for wickets, we plan to make the batsmen uncomfortable and that forces the wicket," Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin said.
De Villiers' explosive half-century featured 10 fours and five huge sixes as Bangalore cruised to 4-176 in 18 overs to get a perfect tune-up with their next three matches at home.
They were chasing Delhi's 5-174, which was bolstered by Rishabh Pant (85) and Shreyas Iyer (52).
De Villiers finished off the match by hitting Kiwi seamer Trent Boult for successive boundaries as Bangalore recorded a second victory from five games with two overs to spare.
"Some of those nights when I see the ball well, don't last. But tonight it was nice and clear," de Villiers said.
