Legendary MS Dhoni silenced his critics and trigger-happy fans, once again, with a well calculated unbeaten knock of 56 runs from 61 balls which helped India to a respectable total of 268/7 against the West Indies in their ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Old Trafford, Manchester on Thursday. At the end, the total proved more than enough as India registered a comfortable win to remain unbeaten and move closer to the semifinals.
After a slow start, Dhoni picked up his scoring rate towards the end of the innings. At one time, he was struggling truggling at 17 off 32 balls (at the end of 39 over), but the arrival of Hardik Pandya seemed to have an effect on him. And coupled with the demands of changing scenario, Dhoni spruced up his knock to eventually returned with a very good looking personal score of 56 from 61. It was also is first half-century of the tournament.
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As he took charge, India head coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli applauded the former captain, leading the team chorus.
Watch it here:
So what happened in the last over.
Dhoni hit the first ball of the over for a six, over deep mid-wicket, then defended a well-directed yorker for a dot. He even decided not to take a single off the next ball.
But he compensated that with a four off the next ball, only to be followed up by another 'single not taken'.
In between, he even chose to change the bat, at his idiosyncratic best. He then finished off with a six, over square leg boundary. Oshane Thomas ended up leaking 16 runs in the last over, thus conceding the momentum to India.
As it happened, Indian bowlers, led by a lethal Mohammed Shami dismissed the Windies for a paltry 124 runs.
