By Online Desk While Chennai Super Kings were chasing 148 runs against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 at Vizag, their batsmen were involved in a funny mix-up. It was one of the best moments of this year's IPL as the openers were in the thick of things right at the start of their innings. Faf du Plessis pushed Trent Boult's third delivery towards point and took a few strides forward, while Shane Watson almost ran into him in the middle of the pitch. Axar Patel, the fielder, threw the ball towards the bowler's end but missed the stumps and the ball was collected by Colin Munro. Colin Munro, who had the opportunity to run one of the batsmen out, decided to throw the ball towards the batting end. As the throw was wayward, Rishabh Pant couldn't collect it and the batsmen scampered for a single. Delhi Capitals had plenty of chances to get the batsmen out but they missed out in getting either of the batsmen out. Earlier, Chennai Super Kings dished out a clinical bowling effort to restrict Delhi Capitals to 147 for nine. Dwayne Bravo (2/19), Ravindra Jadeja (2/23), Deepak Chahar (2/28) and Harbhajan Singh (2/31) shared eight wickets between them to keep DC in check after opting to bowl. Rishabh Pant (38 off 25) and Sherfane Rutherford (10) shared 22 runs for the sixth wicket but CSK didn't allow the Delhi outfit to get any momentum, picking up wickets at regular intervals to rattle their innings.<doc-sep>A half-century from Shane Watson has helped the Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets and set up an Indian Premier League final against Mumbai Indians. Having restricted Delhi to a below-par 9-147, Chennai cruised home with an over to spare in Visakhapatnam on Friday night, with the Australian veteran and South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis making identical scores of 50. However one of them should have been out just three balls into Chennai’s innings. Watson and du Plessis were both stranded in the middle of the pitch, and the Aussie looked destined to be dismissed. Watson and du Plessis were both stranded. Image: IPL However Delhi fielder Chris Morris, standing just metres from Watson’s end with ball in hand, inexplicably decided to throw to du Plessis’s end despite having Watson dead to rights. But Morris’s throw was an absolute shocker, letting both batsmen off the hook. Watson makes them pay Chennai’s clash with Mumbai on Sunday will be a rematch of the first IPL playoff, which Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai side won. Chennai also lost both their league games to Mumbai this season. Watson turned the aggressor after a sedate start, smashing four sixes and three fours in his 32-ball knock while Du Plessis scored at a brisk rate to lay the platform for an easy chase. “The way Faf got going, I could take my time getting into rhythm. It took me a little while and Faf batted beautifully, to be able to take on the bowlers at that stage,” Watson said. “I could take a couple more balls to find my feet. That’s the beauty of cricket, it’s such a team game, you do rely on your teammates at certain moments in time.” Shane Watson in action. Image: AAP Both players were dismissed immediately after reaching their half-centuries, but the steady Ambati Rayudu ensured there was no late drama with an unbeaten 20 to help Chennai reach their second straight final. Asked to bat first, Delhi’s batsmen struggled to convert their promising starts before Rishabh Pant, the hero of their victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday, took charge with a 25-ball 38 that included a six and two fours. Story continues Delhi found themselves in trouble at 8-125 when the left-hander was dismissed, but they scored 22 runs off the last eight balls to give themselves a fighting chance in the contest. Pace bowlers Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo as well as the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh kept the Delhi batsmen on a tight leash during the middle overs and were rewarded with two wickets each. with AAP<doc-sep>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: 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.<doc-sep>Folks, watch this and be happy! Two of the most experienced players in world cricket -- Faf du Plessis of South Africa and Shane Watson of Australia -- were involved in a hilarious and unbelievably silly mixed up during the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC) on Friday at Visakhapatnam. That happened in the very first over of the CSK innings. du Plessis played the third ball of the over, bowled by Trent Boult, to point then the openers went for a quick single. But what really happened was, both the batsmen were heading towards the non-striker's end after Axar Patel returned the ball to Colin Munro. To add to the confusion, DC fielders made a mess of the run out opportunity. The mayhem was so obliterating that the professional cameramen lost the track of the ball. Relive it here: Defending champions CSK produced a clinical performance to beat DC by six wickets and enter their eighth final of the IPL. CSK dished out a disciplined bowling and fielding effort to first restrict DC to 147 for nine and then chased down the target with ease, reaching 151 or four in 19 overs. Dwayne Bravo (2/19), Ravindra Jadeja (2/23), Deepak Chahar (2/28) and Harbhajan Singh (2/31) shared eight wickets between them to keep DC in check after opting to bowl. CSK will play Mumbai Indians in the final of the ongoing IPL in Hyderabad on Sunday. The two teams have met each other thrice in summit clashes of the tournament earlier with MI finishing on the winning side twice while the Chennai outfit came out triumphant once. While CSK won the final battle in 2010, MI finished on the victorious side in 2013 and 2015. For in-depth, objective and more importantly balanced journalism, Click here to subscribe to Outlook Magazine<doc-sep>
Chennai Super Kings’ openers Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson survived a terrible mix-up in the first over of the chase and fired them to a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Qualifier 2 in Visakhapatnam on Friday. Following the comedy of errors early on in the innings, Watson and du Plessis got hold of their nerves and struck respective half-centuries to take Chennai to a comfortable win and seal their progression into the final where they will face Mumbai Indians. On the third ball of Trent Boult’s over, du Plessis hit the ball towards point and tried to steal a single. Both players started running but then had a change of heart and stopped mid-way. Axar Patel threw the ball towards the non-striker’s end where Colin Munro collected the ball and instead of hitting the stumps, threw it towards the wicket-keeper’s end. Rishabh Pant dove to collect the ball but Boult got in the way and parried it towards fine leg Both batsmen were stuck in the middle of the wicket when this entire chain of event took place. Eventually, both players survived and played pivotal roles in firing CSK to a comprehensive win. The official handle of IPL uploaded the video on social media and their post read: “The 1st over confusion galore.” After the end of the match, both batsmen saw the funny side of the incident and laughed it off. While Shane 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. Chennai will now be in action on Sunday when they lock horns against Mumbai in the season finale. Both teams have won three titles and will go for an unprecedented fourth crown at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.