MS Dhoni, the greatest ever finisher in cricket, was at his mercurial best on Thursday. The former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain helped the defending champions script a sensational, last-ball win against their bitter rivals Mumbai Indians in match 33 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai. Just like the old times, he took it deep, then finished it in style.
Chasing a target of 156 runs, Chennai Super Kings were in a precarious position. They needed 48 runs in 24 balls with four wickets in hand.
The equation then became 17 runs off the final six balls. But Dhoni kept his calm despite Jaydev Unadkat claiming the wicket of Dwaine Pretorius (22 off 14 balls) off the first ball.
MS Dhoni hit the third and fourth balls for six and four respectively, then sealed the win with a boundary off the last. For the record, Dhoni has now taken 105 runs off 43 balls from Unadkat while getting out only once in T20 cricket.
After the match, both the captains -- Rohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians and Ravindra Jadeja of Chennai Super Kings -- heaped praise on the former India captain.
Rohit Sharma, while hailing his team for a good fight, admitted that Dhoni's 13-ball 28 not out was the difference between the two teams.
"It was a great fight from us. We were right in the game. After batting not so well, our bowlers kept us in the game all through. But in the end, we all know how calming MS Dhoni can be and he took them home," Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
"It's hard to put a finger on that (top-order problems). If you lose three or a couple of wickets up front, it's always going to be tough. You're always playing that catching (up) game."
Rohit and his opening partner Ishan Kishan got out in the first over itself with Mukesh Choudhary producing a very good opening spell for CSK. But young Tilak Varma hit an unbeaten 51 to help Mumbai Indians post a fighting total of 155/7. And they almost defended it.
"We got to a very reasonable target where we thought with the ball we could put them under pressure. I thought till the last over, we had them under pressure... But in the end, MS and Pretorius, they were quite calm and got them home."
Ravindra Jadeja, who replaced Dhoni as the CSK captain, not only praised but also graciously bowed to his predecessor.
"Actually we were very tense, the way the game was going, but at some stage, we knew that the great finisher of the game was there and if he played to the last ball, he can definitely finish the match," Jadeja said. "He (Dhoni) showed the world that he's still here and he can finish the game."
With two wins from seven matches, Chennai Super Kings are ninth in the ten-team IPL points table, while winless Mumbai Indians remain rooted at the bottom.
