There is a thin line that separates tragedy from humour, a line Shreyas Iyer and Marco Jansen became well too aware of in Mullanpur on Tuesday. The duo watched with smirks on their faces when their players spilled two catches on the trot, and then added a cherry on top with a hilarious misfield.
Punjab Kings practically secured themselves of victory in the first innings itslef when they rode their way to 219/6 in 20 overs on the back of an exhilerating 39-ball ton from Priyansh Arya, given their opponents Chennai Super Kings have not chased down a 175-plus target since 2021 and still clearly lack the weapons to pull off such a feat. Nevertheless, the visitors ensured the game did not die an early death with a blistering 61-run opening stand between the all-Kiwi pair of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, followed by a big third wicket partnership between the former and Shivam Dube. Even so, the required run rate kept climbing higher with each over, and the ensuing pressure created enough opportunities for Punjab to kill off the game but it wasn’t to be.
With a mammoth 111 required in the remaining nine overs, the Conway-Dube duo identified Marco Jansen as a target that needs to be attacked if they are to take the game to the wire. However, the first of those efforts from the Black Cap resulted in the Kookaburra darting low towards Yuzvendra Chahal at short-fine leg, only for the spinner to make a complete meal of it while diving forwards. The ever-generous Yellow Army then offered the hosts a chance at redemption when Conway timidly uppercut one straight to Yash Thakur at deep third man but even the crouching pacer could not hold on to the white rock and let it fall to the deck unharmed. Jansen, having expressed frustration after Chahal’s slip, now saw the funny side of things and simply flashed a wide smile before returning to his mark. Little did he know there was more in store — Dube slammed the third ball along the ground towards Shreyas Iyer at mid-off who should have collected the crawling white rock without any fuss. Instead, the skipper himself let the Kookaburra inexplicably slip through his legs, thus costing his team another run. Jansen’s smile only grew wider and his captain could not help but reciprocate the emotion.
Another setback came a bit later when Lockie Ferguson let slip a sitter to afford Shivam Dube another life, maximizing the entertainment for Twitterati thus.
Unreal fielding
LOL
#PBKS ki fielding dekh k pic.twitter.com/4vwK172EZn
— PunjabKings Fan 🏏 (@FansPunjabKings) April 8, 2025
Punjab vs Chennai fielding pic.twitter.com/Vv4uFEgyRW
— Don Shreyas fan / MI (@yttpob) April 8, 2025
Hilarious
Na bowling ho rahi
Na fielding ho rahi
Na batting hogi
Chennai se Punjab aa gaye par hagna nhi band ho raha in bosariwalo ka 🤦— Gagan🇮🇳 (@1no_aalsi_) April 8, 2025
The worst
The worst fielding off 3 consecutive balls in the history of the game 😂😂 this Panjab team will kill you
— Hardeep (@hsingh6times) April 8, 2025
Thanks punjab for fielding as good as CSK
— Pallavi Kemburu (@PallaviKemburu) April 8, 2025
Repeat
Punjab replicating csk fielding 😭🤣
— moon (@moon_light_kv) April 8, 2025
Just imagine
imagine have ponting as your coach and still having horrendous fielding and dropping catches lyk that.. totally shame of punjab
— ℨ (@the_zakirah) April 8, 2025
What the fuck are u doing in the filed??
Come on guys , pathetic fielding.— BLACK SINGH (PBKS,TN ) 🔥❤️ (@PunjabPbksArmy) April 8, 2025
Let down
Marco Jansen absolutely let down by Yuzi Chahal and Yash Thakur absolutely lazy fielding
Terminate their contracts with Punjab tomorrow— 🫥 (@PBKSxManYoo) April 8, 2025
