It was heartbreak for the Chennai Super Kings as they fell to a narrow three-run loss to the Rajasthan Royals in match 17 of the ongoing Indian Premier League season.
T20 has been a format which has revolutionised the game, bringing in the edge-of-the-seat thrilling factor into the game of cricket. Which also means, every run, every extra and every missed catch can change the game on its head. And that's exactly what happened in the CSK vs RR contest.
Wednesday's contest at the iconic Chepauk witnessed another nerve-wrecking finish, with hosts CSK ending up on the losing side.
Ahead of their match, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja had said they would 'love to gift him (Dhoni) a win' on his special occasion.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was playing his 200th match as CSK captain. And the skipper played a sizzling knock, but in the end, Chennai fell three runs short.
It was Chennai's game to lose. After inviting Royals to bat first, the CSK bowlers did well to restrict the explosive opening pair, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Furthermore, Ravindra Jadeja picked up crucial wickets to put the hosts in the driver's seat.
But Moeen Ali, returning to the side from illness, had a nightmarish outing on the field.
The England all-rounder dropped not one, but two catches. And that's not all! Moeen fumbled to collect the ball which saw a missed run out opportunity. He first dropped Devdutt Padikkal and then handed Ravichandran Ashwin two lifelines. And both made the most of the opportunity.
Padikkal dropped
Padikkal came up the order ahead of Skipper Sanju Samson. The move seemed to have worked as he played a crucial knock. With Jaiswal departing for just 10, Padikkal would have followed him back quickly had it not been for Moeen.
A fumble saw Padikkal handed a lifeline when he was on 14. He went on to put up the highest partnership for the Royals in the game as Padikkal and Buttler added 77 off 41.
Ashwin dropped
Player-of-the-Match R Ashwin was handed not one but two lifelines. And both by Moeen. The CSK all rounder would have fallen for 1, but Ali dropped a sitter.
A couple of overs later, Moeen fumbled while collecting the ball, which resulted in a missed runout opportunity.
Ashwin made the most of the opportunities handed to him as he hammered two huge sixes and a boundary.
With Royals winning the match by just three runs, the catches could have turned the game on its head and seen CSK register a comfortable win.
