Watch: The MS Dhoni blunder that nearly spelt CSK's doom against RCB in IPL 2023

Fans witnessed a rare hiccup by CSK skipper MS Dhoni against RCB in IPL 2023. He failed to collect a simple caught-behind opportunity of Faf du Plessis.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) endured a tough eight-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 clash in Bengaluru on Monday. The action started with RCB skipper Faf du Plessis winning the toss and inviting CSK to bat, who then piled a massive 226/6 in 20 overs.

A screengrab of the incident

RCB, in response, got off to a dreadful start and lost in-form batter Virat Kohli for 6(4) in the first over of the run chase. RCB almost lost their second wicket in the same over as Maheesh Theekshana failed to hold onto a catch of Mahipal Lomror at mid-off.

However, Lomror failed to capitalise on the second chance and was removed by Tushar Deshpande in the next over for 0, with Ruturaj Gaikwad making no mistake inside the 30-yard-circle.

Things could have gotten worse for the hosts if MS Dhoni hadn't fluffed a chance. Fans witnessed a rare hiccup from the CSK skipper behind the stumps. The incident took place moments before Lomror's dismissal as Dhoni failed to collect a simple caught-behind, at least by his standard, handing du Plessis a lucky reprieve on 0.

Making full use of the second chance, du Plessis along with Glenn Maxwell took the game away from CSK with their explosive batting. The pair added 126 runs for the third wicket in just 61 balls as a win looked very much in sight for RCB.

Du Plessis was the first between the two to complete his half-century, completing the milestone in just 23 balls. If the RCB skipper was knocking the ball all over the park, his teammate Maxwell also left CSK equally frustrated with his blitzkrieg display. Maxwell took one delivery extra than Du Plessis to reach his half-century as the pair put RCB in a comfortable position to close the match.

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But the match swung back towards CSK as soon as the dynamic duo were dismissed. Maxwell was the first one to be dismissed as he was caught by Dhoni for 76(36) and du Plessis too returned to the dugout in the next over. The legendary CSK skipper redeemed himself by taking two swaying skiers.

Soon after, RCB's out-of-form middle order did not have the firepower to keep up with the asking rate of 12 runs per over and could only manage 218/8 in their 20 overs courtesy of some meaty hits by Dinesh Karthik and Impact Substitute Suyash Prabhudessai towards the closing stage of the match.

Despite the victory, CSK's dodgy fielding will keep them worried. After the mistakes in the powerplay, CSK dropped two more catches - Theeshana missed a caught and bowled opportunity while Ruturaj Gaikwad missed a simple chance of DK at long on - in the match.