How Parthiv Patel's dropped catch changed the game's course
According to Luck Index, the dropped catch of Shreyas Iyer in the first over of the chase cost Royal Challengers Bangalore 16 runs
ESPNcricinfo stats team
07-Apr-2019
0.6 - Southee to Iyer, 1 run, edge dropped by Parthiv diving to his right; length ball, teasing line outside off and he draws the poke. The ball wasn't travelling too fast and Parthiv had time to tumble to his right, got a glove to it, but couldn't hold on
That was ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball commentary for the last ball of the first over of Delhi Capitals' innings. Defending only 149, Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to the perfect start when Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed third ball. Had Parthiv Patel not put down that chance, Capitals would have been 7 for 2 after the first over, with their captain back in the hutch. As it turned out, Iyer made the most of the opportunity and batted on till the 18th over, scoring 67 off 50; when he was dropped, he was on four off two.
According to ESPNcricinfo's Luck Index, which puts a run value to all lucky events in a game, that dropped catch cost Royal Challengers 16 runs. The calculation is done assuming that the extra deliveries that Iyer faced would have been shared by the other Capitals' batsmen who didn't bat with Iyer, and either remained unbeaten or didn't bat in the game.
Given that Capitals only won with seven balls to spare, and given that they again demonstrated their frailty towards the end of the chase, that chance was probably a key event in the chase. Virat Kohli's comments after the game clearly indicated that he thought so.
For Royal Challengers, the dropped catch encapsulated the miserable season they have had so far. They have made mistakes galore throughout this tournament, bowling the highest number of no-balls and missing the highest number of chances (missed catches, stumpings and run-outs), and the opposition teams have made them pay for their errors.