Shreyas Iyer was at his acrobatic best as he played the lead role in a fantabulous catch to dismiss Hardik Pandya in a Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings IPL 2026 match in Mumbai on Thursday. The catch came on the third ball of the 18th over bowled by Marco Jansen. Pandya had just hit a six and were starting to look dangerous. The third delivery of the over would have also gone past the boundary but for Iyer. Iyer ran in from long-on and leapt to reverse-cup the ball while airborne before throwing it to Xavier Bartlett, who completed the catch. Replays showed that Iyer had released the ball on time. After the catch was completed, Iyer gestured to the Mumbai crowd, urging them to applaud. Though the scorecard might say that Pandya was caught by Bartlett, it was ‘practically’ Iyer’s catch.
SHREYAS IYER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!
One of the best catches you would see in the #TATAIPL history
Updates https://t.co/Fn2dxJ4zYR#KhelBindaas | #MIvPBKS | @PunjabKingsIPL pic.twitter.com/6EKgHR82cL
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 16, 2026
Catch of the season by shreyas iyer
Even Rohit Sharma is shocked #mivspkbs #iplt20 #shreyasiyer #rohitsharma #sky #ipl2026 pic.twitter.com/0icz7NDoeP— vk_byts (@dr_v_byts) April 16, 2026
A belligerent century from Quinton de Kock (112 not out) and a gritty 50 from Naman Dhir pulled Mumbai Indians out of doldrums and lifted them to an under-par 195/6 against Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.
Confined to warming the bench so far, de Kock replaced Rohit Sharma and smacked his third IPL hundred to lead an inspirational fightback for the troubled Mumbai Indians, who had slipped to 15/2 in three overs and had their backs firmly pressed against the wall.
The veteran Protea batter was in his elements during his unbeaten ton — a 60-ball 112 not out (8x4s, 7x6s) and his first in IPL since 2022 — clobbering the ball powerfully on the leg-side and picking boundaries with precision and terrific timing on the off.
India and Punjab Kings pacer Arshdeep Singh (3/22) swung the ball precariously with immaculate lengths to snaffle two key wickets early on, while a third came late in the innings. PBKS completes the chase in less than 17 overs.
With PTI inputs