Faf du Plessis teamed up with Chennai Super Kings’ substitute fielder Dhruv Shorey to pull off a fantastic relay catch during their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday.

Du Plessis showed impeccable presence of mind to lob the ball towards his teammate Shorey when he felt he might not be able to keep himself inside the boundary ropes after holding on to the catch.

M39: RCB vs CSK – VIVO Perfect Catch of the Match – Faf du Plessis & Dhruv Shorey https://t.co/Bu9Eft9YR5

— கார்த்திக் சேகர் (@ikarthiksekar) April 21, 2019

The incident happened in the 17th over of the RCB innings when Marcus Stoinis tried to loft CSK spinner Imran Tahir for a straight six. The Australia all-rounder top edged but it appeared that the ball would sail over the ropes at first instance. But du Plessis, standing at long-off had other ideas. He judged the ball to perfection, stationed himself under it and also held on to the catch before lobbing it back to the long-on fielder Shorey, who in the end, completed the formalities.

Stoinis had to take the long walk back after scoring 14 off 13 balls.

The standard of fielding and fitness has risen so much that such catches have now become a norm in cricket and boundary riders more often than not anticipate it in almost every match. Before du Plessis’ brilliance, Colin Ingram had left everyone awestruck by having the presence of mind to throw the ball at least 25 metres to the long-on fielder to avoid falling over the boundary ropes to dismiss Chris Gayle during the Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab match a couple of nights ago.

Coming back to the RCB vs CSK match, it turned out to be a nail-biter with RCB getting over the line by just 1 run despite MS Dhoni’s brilliance with the bat. Needing 26 off the last over, Dhoni hit Umesh Yadav for three sixes before dramatically getting run out off the last ball when only 2 runs were required.

First Published: Apr 22, 2019 16:48 IST