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The series of drop catches continues in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026) season. In the very first over in the second innings of the Arun Jaitley Stadium between the Delhi Capitals and the Rajasthan Royals (DC vs RR), the emerging player of RR, Yash Punja, drops a regulatory catch off KL Rahul.
Jofra Archer could have dismissed the Delhi Capitals opener for a duck, but Punja missed the easy chance. He was in a position, on the line of the ball, but still missed it. Jofra Archer simply turned back and walked back to his mark.
Yash Punja drops an easy catch off DC's in-form batter KL Rahul
KL Rahul is one of the in-form batters in the match, so the dropped catch can be proved as one of the main talking points later as the match progresses. On the second ball of the first over of the second innings, the Rajasthan Royals pacer, Jofra Archer, went fuller and on the pads of the right-handed batter. Rahul tried to clear the short fine leg fielder, but failed to connect with the ball.
After making the connection, the ball went straight towards Yash Punja. The ball was at the waist height of the tall fielder. He got both hands to his left side but could not pouch the ball. DC missed a golden opportunity, KL Rahul went off to the mark, stealing a single.
After losing the toss, the away team for the match, Rajasthan Royals, scored a well competitive total of 193 runs in 20 overs in exchange for 8 wickets. They could have got more, but in the mid-phase of the innings, the Delhi Capitals bowlers came back strongly and restricted RR within the 200-run mark.
DC made a comeback in the first innings through their bowlers
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, as usual, played his natural game, hitting the bowlers all around the park. He is currently holding the record for smashing the most sixes in a single IPL season. RR was dominating for a significant phase of the innings as Dhruv Jurel and the RR skipper Riyan Parag got half-centuries each.
While Vaibhav was dismissed for 46, Dhruv and Riyan scored 53 and 51, respectively. With the ball, DC’s star pacer Mitchell Marsh claimed 4 wickets and a brace each for Lungi Ngidi and Madhav Tiwari.
Madhav Tiwari mentioned KL Rahul for his brilliant bowling spell against the Rajasthan Royals
Madhav was brilliant with the ball tonight, taking a couple of wickets for 27 runs in his 4-over spell.
“I was just looking to put myself in a high-pressure situation in the nets themselves. So, bowling to Miller and bowling to Ashutosh Sharma and KL Rahul helped me. I was just trying to figure out how I'm gonna bowl against these batsmen, which is gonna help me in this tournament,” the uncapped Indian pacer said during the innings break.
Read More: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scripts new record during DC vs RR, leaves Abhishek Sharma behind
