IPL 2022: Yuzvendra Chahal misses dream hat-trick as Karun Nair drops a sitter

Rajasthan Royals’ Karun Nair, who came in as a substitute fielder in the game against Mumbai Indians, was standing at first slip and dropped a relatively easy catch to deny Yuzvendra Chahal his maiden IPL hat-trick. The leg spinner bowled beautifully in the middle overs despite Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma going strong for the third-wicket partnership and certainly, he deserved a hat-trick for the way he stuck to an excellent line and length.

Chahal bowled the 16th over of the innings, and he struck off the very first ball by trapping Tim David in front of the wickets which turned out to be a massive moment in the game. Daniel Sams came to the crease and Chahal flighted one above the eye line of Sams straightaway. Sams went for the big shot and was caught in the long-on region which changed the game completely in RR’s favour. For the hat-trick ball, Chahal looped a googly into Murugan Ashwin’s pads and the ball took the edge of the batter, providing a relatively straightforward catch to Nair, but the Karnataka lad spoiled the party for the leggie.

Video of Karun Nair dropping the simple catch of Yuzvendra Chahal’s delivery

Chahal could not believe that he missed out on the chance to pick up a hat-trick which is a big achievement in the T20 format and he was seen biting his jersey with a smile. He finished with figures of 2 for 26 in the game and continued his wicket-taking form from the last game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Earlier in the game, Jos Buttler scored a fantastic century off 68 deliveries which included five sixes and 11 fours, and helped his side post a big total of 193 on the board. Mumbai Indians were cruising at one stage with Varma showing off his big-hitting skills, but a flurry of wickets towards the back end of the innings saw the Rohit-led side losing the game by 23 runs in the end.