Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting could barely control his frustration as dropped catches came back to haunt the side yet again in another defeat. On Wednesday, against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, PBKS dropped as many as three catches in a 33-run loss that saw them slip from the top spot in the points table and further complicate their playoff hopes.
Ponting’s reaction came when broadcasters brought him on camera for a mid-innings chat at the 10-over mark of the first innings. By then, PBKS had already dropped two catches. Cooper Connolly put down Ishan Kishan in the eighth over, with the batter going on to score a half-century, while Shashank Singh—who had dropped three catches against Lucknow Super Giants earlier this season—failed to hold on to a chance created by Yuzvendra Chahal in the ninth over to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen.
“Look, it’s been a bit of a virus for us, to be honest. We’ve put a lot of catches down so far this season. The boys have worked exceptionally hard and poor old Shashank there, it just looks like the chances are following him around everywhere he goes. He’s sitting under every high ball,” Ponting said.
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“He missed a couple of games with a left hamstring, so it’s taken him about a week and a half to come back from that. He’s done all his work over the last week to be physically right to play, and we have really ramped up the catching drills over the last five or six days,” he added.
Moments later, Punjab dropped a third catch, with Lockie Ferguson being the culprit. Chahal had once again created an opportunity, but the New Zealand pacer handed Ishan another lifeline in the 11th over. Ponting fumed at the sight but restrained his reaction.
“I am pretty close to throwing the microphone on the field,” he remarked after Ferguson grassed the chance.
Punjab Kings are now among the poorest fielding sides in terms of catching efficiency this season, with a success rate of 73.6 per cent, better only than Delhi Capitals (64.5).
The three dropped catches ultimately proved costly as Punjab fell 33 runs short in their chase of 236. It was their third straight defeat after a seven-match unbeaten run and also their ninth consecutive loss to SRH in Hyderabad — now an IPL record. The previous worst streak was RCB’s 0-8 record against CSK at Chepauk.