3 Instances when fielding lapses from David Warner cost his side dearly

The Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated the Delhi Capitals (DC) by six wickets after a thrilling last-ball finish at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, April 11. This was the five-time champions' first win in this edition of the IPL.

MI won the toss and decided to bowl first. The hosts were in a spot of bother at 98/5 after 12.3 overs but recovered through Axar Patel's (54 runs off 25 balls) scintillating half-century. David Warner (51 runs off 47 balls) too scored a half-century but his low strike-rate left a lot to be desired. A collapse at the end meant that DC went from 165/5 after 18 overs to 172 all-out in 19.4 overs.

In reply, MI got off to a positive start and were cruising at 139/1 after 15.4 overs. However, the quick dismissals of Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav brought DC back into the contest. Cameron Green and Tim David held their nerve and took MI home on the last ball through their quick-fire cameos.

DC will rue the missed run-out opportunities and dropped catch in the last over. Anrich Nortje and captain David Warner were guilty of missing the run-out opportunities while Mukesh Kumar dropped the catch.

On that note, here are three instances where fielding lapses by David Warner cost his side dearly:

#1 Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians, IPL 2023

With two runs needed off the last ball, Tim David drove an Anrich Nortje delivery to long-off. The ball struck the bottom of Tim David's bat and took its time in reaching David Warner at long-off. Thus, Warner had to run in quickly, collect the ball and make an accurate throw to run-out David, who was returning for a second run.

Warner did the first two tasks well but a wayward throw meant that wicket-keeper Abhishek Porel had to jump and stretch himself upwards to collect the throw, giving the batter enough time to finish the second run. An accurate throw just above the stumps would have caught Tim David short of his ground and the match would have gone to a Super Over.

#2 Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2015

The Royal Challengers Bangalore needed four runs off two balls with Virat Kohli at the crease to defeat the Sunrisers Hyderabad. SRH's Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced an opportunity which his captain, David Warner, failed to make the most of.

Virat Kohli mistimed an aerial shot towards David Warner, who was fielding at long-off. David Warner completed the catch but touched the boundary rope with his foot while celebrating Kohli's dismissal. A six was awarded for RCB and they won the match by six wickets as a result.

The incident brought back memories of Herschelle Gibbs' infamous catch-dropping celebration during the 1999 World Cup.

#3 Australia vs England, Second Test, Ashes 2018-19

With the second Test between Australia and England in the Ashes, 2018-19, in the balance, Australia missed a couple of reviews while Warner was guilty of letting go of three catches.

The Australian batter missed the chances while fielding at first slip. Warner missed an opportunity to eliminate Joe Denly, who had scored seven runs at the time, off Peter Siddle's bowling. Denly went on to score 26.

However, the bigger setbacks came later in the innings as Warner dropped Ben Stokes twice who went on to score a hundred. The first catch went between Australian keeper Tim Paine and Warner at first slip, while Warner missed a second chance diving to his left.

Australia went from a dominating position in the Test match to a state where they had to come out to bat and salvage a draw.