‘Best fielding save ever’: Jonty Rhodes hails Pooran

SHARJAH: Kings XI Punjab’s (KXIP) fielding coach Jonty Rhodes on Monday hailed Nicholas Pooran’s fielding effort at the boundary rope to save a six with his acrobatic skills.

Even former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar had praised Pooran on Sunday, and replying to the tweet of the Master Blaster, Rhodes tweeted: “When the #godofcricket @sachin_rt says it is, then there really is NO question about it being THE best save, EVER. Fantastic work by @nicholas_47 who inspired the rest of the @lionsdenkxip fielders to put on 1 of the best defensive fielding displays I have ever seen #proudcoach.”
In the eighth over, Rajasthan Royals’ Sanju Samson had played a pull shot off Murugan Ashwin and it was then that Pooran, at deep mid-wicket, dived full length over the rope to catch the ball.

He was stretching to the maximum possible and then he caught the ball with his left hand. And, a millisecond before falling onto the ground, he flicked the ball back into play and Rajasthan had to settle for just two runs.

Rajasthan Royals chased down a total of 224 to defeat KXIP by four wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday. For the Royals, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, and Rahul Tewatia all scored 50+ scores to give the side a victory by four wickets. Tewatia came out to bat at number four and he was struggling at one stage as he had scored just 13 runs from his first 19 balls.

However, in the 18th over bowled by Sheldon Cottrell, Tewatia hit five sixes to turn the side. The left-handed batsman played a knock of 53 as Rajasthan gained an improbable victory.

Sanju Samson had played a knock of 74 runs against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and he followed it up with an 85-run knock against Kings XI Punjab. Skipper Smith registered an innings of 50 against Punjab as well.

For KXIP, Mayank Agarwal had scored a ton and this was his first hundred in the IPL. The right-handed Mayank played a knock of 106 runs from 50 balls with the help of 10 fours and 7 sixes to take the side’s total to 223/2.

Rajasthan has now won their opening two matches in the ongoing edition of the IPL. The side will next lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders on September 30 while Kings XI Punjab will face Mumbai Indians on October 1. (ANI)