Chennai Super Kings found moments of individual brilliance to take solace from in their eight-wicket defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League 2024 on Friday.
Towards the end of the match when the result was all but formality, Ravindra Jadeja, stationed at point, took an exceptional catch to dismiss LSG skipper KL Rahul.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad gave the ball to Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana when LSG needed just 16 runs from 18 balls.
Pathirana bowled a widish delivery on the short of good length and Rahul latched on to the width. The LSG skipper who had hit the ball as clean as a whistle could not expect what happened next.
The blazing ball met a leaping Ravindra Jadeja who grabbed an astonishing one-handed catch to leave the Ekana crowd stunned.
Ravi Shastri on air asked if the grab could be adjudged the catch of the tournament.
KL Rahul was dismissed for a 53-ball 82 but before departing he had already sealed the fate of the match. The new man in Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran guided the home side to victory.
Chasing 177, Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul put up a 134-run opening stand against a CSK bowling attack which lacked teeth to create any damage to the LSG pair.
Jadeja had a forgettable outing with the ball as he gave away 32 runs in his three overs and went wicketless. However, his fifty in the first innings played a crucial role in taking CSK to 176/6 after being put to bat by KL Rahul.
Two other moments also stood out for CSK. First, Moeen Ali's hat-trick of sixes against Ravi Bishnoi to up the ante for the visitors towards the end of their innings. Second, MS Dhoni's 9-ball blitz where he smashed two sixes and three fours to get to an unbeaten 28.
