IPL 2020, CSK vs RCB: Du Plessis, Ruturaj pull off one of the best tag-team catches to dismiss Padikkal

Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad produced an excellent tag-team catch during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday. In the first fixture of Sunday's doubleheader, which is currently underway in Dubai, du Plessis and Ruturaj as a team dismissed RCB opener Devdutt Padikkal off Mitchell Santner's bowling in the seventh over.

After opting to bat against CSK, Aaron Finch and Padikkal gave RCB to a decent start. Finch scored an 11-ball 15 before he was sent back to the pavilion in 3.5 overs. Padikkal, who had struck two fours and a six, was looking good before he got out because of du Plessis and Ruturaj's superb team work near the boundary. At the end of the powerplay overs, RCB were at 38 for 1.

Padikkal and Virat Kohli added another eight runs to RCB's tally before the former was tempted to go with the slog off Santner's balling on the first delivery of the seventh over. While the Karnataka opener did not time the ball properly, du Plessis ran to his left from long-on and took the catch. The South African, who is known for unbelievable catching abilities on the field, instantly knew he was going to touch the boundary, so he threw it to Ruturaj, who came close to him from deep mid-wicket. The expression on Padikkal's face gave away his thoughts of being both disappointed and amazed by the duo's efforts.

The duo of Ruturaj and du Plessis were great on the field in the first innings against RCB. Both the players claimed two catches each. After his extraordinary effort in Padikkal's dismissal, du Plessis was involved in two more crucial dismissals as he completed catches of AB de Villiers and Kohli. The RCB pair shared an 82-run stand for the third wicket before CSK bowler Deepak Chahar made the breakthrough with the wicket of de Villiers.

Kohli registered his IPL career's 39th half-century as he helped RCB to score 145 for 6 in 20 overs. England all-rounder Sam Curran was once again CSK's stand-out performer as he bagged three wickets for 19 runs in his quota of four overs. The other wickets were shared by Chahar and Santner.

After claiming two catches on Sunday, Du Plessis now has 12 catches to his name in IPL 2020 – the most by any fielder this season. Last season, with 12 catches, du Plessis had finished the IPL campaign with the most catches among the fielders.

RCB, who are yet to win the title, will qualify for the playoffs if they defeat CSK on Sunday. The last time RCB qualified for the playoffs was back in 2016, where Kohli's side finished as runners' up after losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final. Meanwhile, if CSK end on the losing side on Sunday, they will be eliminated from the tournament and it will be for the very first time that Dhoni's CSK won't feature in the playoffs.