Rajasthan Royals (RR) all-rounder Ben Stokes arguably grabbed the best catch of the season so far to dismiss Kedar Jadhav as the home side took an early advantage over Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Defending 151 runs, Rajasthan Royals got off to a perfect start. Dhawal Kulkarni bowled a peach of a delivery to dismiss Shane Watson to trigger the collapse. Suresh Raina, the main architect of Chennai Super Kings, also got himself run out in the second over to make things worse. Reeling at five for two, Jaydev Unadkat got the better of Faf du Plessis who holed out to deep square leg in an attempt to break free from the shackles. There were deep clouds already over Chennai’s fate, and it only got worse with the departure of Kedar Jadhav. Ben Stokes arguably grabbed the most sensational catch of the season to dismiss Jadhav off the bowling of Jofra Archer.
It was a short of length delivery wide of off, and Kedar Jadhav played a good looking square cut. It was in the air, Stokes flies in the air, times the jump to perfection and pulls off a stunning catch. Catch for the ages! He charges towards the third man and punches the air in delight. These moments changes game at Chennai Super Kings were in deep, deep trouble struggling at 24 for four.
Watch Ben Stokes’ unbelievable catch here:
https://twitter.com/AnkushD86744515/status/1116390476469301248
Previously, a last over resurgence from Shreyas Gopal helped Rajasthan Royals finish with the momentum. He smacked 18 runs off the last over from Shardul Thakur to post 151 runs at the end of 20 overs. Chennai Super Kings dominated the middle stage after a flying start from Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane. Ben Stokes played a patient knock of 28 runs before Gopal finished things on a high.