Chasing Chennai Super Kings’ 176/6, Lucknow Super Giants romped home with eight wickets in hand and one over to spare.

New Delhi: Have you ever heard of getting awarded for dropping a catch in a cricket match? Well, this might come as a surprise to you, but it has actually happened in the ongoing IPL 2024 when Lucknow Super Kings all-rounder Deepak Hooda was awarded for dropping a catch against Chennai Super Kings at Ekana Stadium on Friday, resulting in MS Dhoni’s delayed arrival at the crease.

The incident took place on the third ball of the 16^th over when Ravindra Jadeja lofted Mohsin Khan down the ground. Hooda, who was standing on the boundary, dropped Jadeja, fearing he is too close to the boundary before the ball went for a six. With that six, Jadeja also completed his fifty.

As a result, Dhoni’s arrival was delayed by eight balls. The five-time IPL-winning captain arrived in the 18^th over and scored a nine-ball 28 not out to take CSK to 176/6. In a video that was shared by LSG on their social media, Rhodes awarded Hooda for being sloppy on the field, taking the latter by surprise.

Known for his fielding during his playing days, the former South African stalwart stated that had Dhoni got five more balls to play, the game would been shifted to CSK’s favour. “The fielding award is not just about brilliant performances, fielding is about a win,” Rhodes said in the video.

“The yellow team, they have this guy MSD, he was striking at around 400. I think it was a really smart decision by the birthday boy Deepak Hooda to let the ball go for six. That meant Dhoni didn’t come out for 5 more balls,” added Rhodes.

As far as the match was concerned, openers KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock made classy fifties on a slow pitch and produced a chasing masterclass to power LSG to a comfortable eight-wicket. Rahul (82) and De Kock (54) batted with authority during their match-winning alliance of 134, the highest partnership for any wicket at the Ekana Stadium, as LSG scored 180/2 in 19 overs to recover from back-to-back loss and consolidate their position in the table.