Sharjah, Oct 4: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fielders looked a bit sloppy in the field during the match against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 encounter in Dubai on Sunday (October 4).
The fielders in the deep were seen doing misfields and gifting extra runs to the opposition batsmen. Even someone like Faf du Plessis wasn't at his athletic best in the outfield and failed to put pressure on the batsmen.
However, the Super Kings fielders took some spectacular catches in the game to make up for the misfields and prevented KL Rahul and his men from posting a huge total. At one stage, Kings XI were poised to post 200-plus but Dhoni's men pulled up their socks in the middle overs and took some brilliant catches to script a comeback.
After Piyush Chawla dismissed opener, Mayank Agarwal, in his first over and Mandeep Singh along with captain KL Rahul provided impetus on the scoreboard. Mandeep was looking in destructive mood as he scored 27 off 16 deliveries. But Ravindra Jadeja's floated delivery outfoxed Mandeep and Ambati Rayudu took a low catch inside the circle to end his knock.
The second-best fielding effort for CSK was produced by Ravindra Jadeja when took a sky-high catch near the boundary ropes to end Nicholas Pooran's destructive knock. Pooran hit Shardul Thakur very high in the Dubai sky but Jadeja kept his eyes focussed on the ball and took a splendid catch to remind why he's such a highly rated fielder.
On the very next delivery, captain Dhoni took a stunning catch to end dangerous KL Rahul's knock. Rahul edged Shardul and Dhoni dove towards his right and pouched the ball in his save gloves comfortably. It was also a milestone moment for the legendary wicketkeeper as he completed 100 catches in the IPL. Dhoni is second after Dinesh Karthik to enter the elite club.
Thanks to these impressive fielding efforts, CSK managed to restrict Punjab to 178/4 in 20 overs.