The Chepauk Stadium was witness to an all-round performance of impressive proportions during Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) seven-wicket win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday, April 21. The side limited their opponents to just 134/7 as the home fans were treated to a Ravindra Jadeja classic with his superb spin bowling, finishing with figures of 3/22 in four overs.
A part of this exceptional display was a special record that was drowned in the brilliant performances of the home team. CSK's veteran captain and wicketkeeper MS Dhoni was involved in a brilliant dismissal to send the dangerous SRH captain Aiden Markram back to the pavilion off Maheesh Theekshana's bowling.
In doing so, the 41-year-old wicketkeeper now has the most catches in T20 cricket, surpassing South Africa's Quinton de Kock! Dhoni has now taken 208 catches in T20 cricket, while De Kock has taken 207 catches in his T20 career. The third spot on the list is held by another Indian wicketkeeper, Dinesh Karthik with 205 catches, followed by Pakistan's Kamran Akmal in fourth with 172 catches and former West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin in fifth place with 150 catches.
It was enough to dismantle the SRH batters after the top order gave them a solid start. Openers Harry Brook (18) and Abhishek Sharma (34) set up a 35-run partnership at the top, before a 36-run stand for the second wicket between Sharma and Rahul Tripathi (21). But the SRH batters struggled against the CSK spinners and eventually, the wickets fell like a pack of cards.
Jadeja, along with Maheesh Theekshana (1/27), put a stranglehold on the SRH batting unit after Dhoni asked the spinners to take over from overs 7 to 15. The veteran Indian all-rounder took the important wickets of Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, and Mayank Agarwal, while Theekshana was economical in his bowling in addition to the scalp of skipper Markram. The SRH batters found it tough to get any boundaries after 10.3 overs as the spinners maintained their dominance.
With the bat, Devon Conway accosted for most of the runs with his third straight half-century of the tournament. He was ably supported by Ruturaj Gaikwad, who also scored a half-century before being run out. Conway remained unbeaten as Ajinkya Rahane (9) and Ambati Rayudu (9) helped the four-time champions seal an emphatic victory.
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