Chennai Super Kings (CSK) wanted 21 runs to win within the closing over of their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match in opposition to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Chennai on Wednesday however the match was removed from being over with skipper MS Dhoni within the center. In his 200th match as CSK captain, Dhoni turned again the clock for his followers, smashing a pair off sixes off RR pacer Sandeep Sharma to maintain Chepauk hopes of an unlikely win alive.
However, Sandeep Sharma nailed a few pin-point yorkers off the ultimate two balls of the final over to Ravindra Jadeja to eke out a three-run win for his aspect. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 32 off 17 balls with three sixes and 1 4 as four-time IPL champions CSK suffered their first house defeat by the hands of Royals at house since 2008.
WATCH highlights of MS Dhoni’s knock in opposition to Rajasthan Royals HERE…
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Rewind Dhoni’s late blitz from #CSKvRR & hold watching #IPLJioCinema _#TATAIPL #IPL2023 | @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/k09CU93AC5
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) April 12, 2023
The Royals posted 175 for 8 after batting first and CSK want 176 to win for his or her third successive win in IPL 2023. But ‘hometown’ hero Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal picked up a few wickets every to get RR again within the contest after Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane gave a house aspect a nice begin.
“I don’t fancy too many things. I just wait for the bowlers to commit a few errors. The bowler was slightly under pressure in the last over,” Dhoni stated about his batting within the closing overs.
“You need to back yourself. My strength is to look to hit straight. We saw the amount of dew, and after the first few overs, it became relatively easy. We should have done better with the bat. Overall, the bowlers did well,” the CSK skipper added.
Dhoni additionally grew to become the primary captain to steer an IPL franchise in 200 matches. “I am not big on milestones. How does it matter if it is 199 or 200. It is a compliment to play 200 games. Thanks to almighty. But as I said nothing special,” Dhoni stated on the post-match presentation.
Royals skipper Sanju Samson stated that one can by no means have the sport within the bag until Dhoni is batting within the center. “You can’t feel that way (that game is in the bag) till the time that guy (Dhoni) is in the middle. I do a lot of planning, research and sit down with the data team. A lot of thoughts are going around. Nothing works on Dhoni, though,” Samson stated after the match.
