New Delhi: Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer The stunning display of athleticism on the boundary ropes stunned everyone, not only from the fans but also from the Mumbai Indians dugout, where Rohit Sharma and Surya Kumar Yadav were seen watching in disbelief.The moment came in the 18th over of the IPL 2026 clash between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, when Hardik Pandya Breaks Marco Johnson towards long-on.Then there was pure athletic prowess. Rushing to his left, Iyer flicked the ball to perfection near the boundary rope. Sensing that he was about to lose his balance and step over, he improvised in mid-air, caught the ball with a reverse cup and, while airborne, threw it back into play.Xavier Bartlett, stationed nearby, completed the catch safely. While Bartlett’s name went into the scorebook, the effort was entirely Ayer’s creation.After the brilliant effort, Iyer celebrated in style.After Punjab Kings’ seven-wicket win, Ian Bishop asked Iyer, “At one stage Mumbai were looking for 200+, what was the key to pulling things back”.Iyer didn’t mince words and said: “I think my catch (laughs)”.Prabhasmaran Singh and Iyer scored fluent half-centuries as Punjab Kings continued their winning run with an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians, who suffered their fourth straight defeat in IPL 2026.Chasing 196, Punjab Kings reached 198/3 with 21 balls to spare, as the Mumbai Indians bowlers collectively struggled, with AM Ghazanfar’s 2/31 the only notable effort.“Confident and optimistic going forward. We’re playing phenomenal. We know that every game is important, it’s a collective effort, a collective victory is a joy. Prabhasmaran has raised the bar by looking at last season, where he took wild swings, scored runs and got off to a great start. Now he has reached maturity and is finishing the game. He is maturing with every game”, Iyer said after the match.“My catch was the key to pulling things back (laughs), but we have a tendency to do that. We have a tendency to do that against SRH as well. We have to be present and enjoy the moment. How we are lucky to have won the toss yet. We have a lot of positive players who are ready to go out there and express themselves. You need to keep our focus on improving each game and getting our game back. Have seen the crowds come in, the fan base is getting bigger. It was great to see the fans showering their love,” he said.Punjab Kings will next face Lucknow Supergiants on April 19.
