Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stormed into their eighth IPL final with a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
An 81-run opening stand between Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson proved to be the game-changer after CSK bowlers had restricted Delhi to 147 for 9. Opting to bowl, CSK curbed DC’s scoring rate and picked up wickets at regular intervals. Shreyas Iyer & Co. were given a late surge by their tail-enders but it wasn’t enough in the end to usurp MS Dhoni’s men.
However, it could have been a very different situation if DC had taken their chance in the very first over of the CSK innings. In a sequence of event which can only be described as ‘comedy of errors’, DC missed the chance to run out Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis on the same ball.
The hilarious Faf-Watto mix-up and Delhi’s shambolic fielding
The first over of the second innings saw an epic mix-up between the CSK opener Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson but they were saved from embarrassment thanks to an equally messy bit of work from the Delhi fielders. Du Plessis tapped Boult to point and Watson took off for a single before realising his partner hadn’t run.
Seeing Watson dart out, du Plessis looked to run before backing away and Watson did the same. By this time, Sherfane Rutherford had thrown the ball at the non-striker’s end but there was no one to collect it near the stumps. Colin Munro, backing up from mid-on gathered the ball, but instead of throwing down the stumps at his end, he chose to throw at the striker’s end. By this time, du Plessis and Watson were returning to their respective ends. Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant fumbled Munro’s wide throw and the batsmen survived.
Here’s the video:
— CricBoll (@mycricboll) May 11, 2019
After the match, both batsmen saw the funny side of the incident and laughed it off. While Watson said the mix-up went their way in the end, du Plessis on the other hand quipped that he felt he ran three runs in trying to get back inside the crease on either side of the wicket.
