MS Dhoni turned back the clock to his vintage days and got the Chennai Super Kings over the line in a last-ball thrilling run chase versus arch-rivals Mumbai Indians on Thursday night.
Set a target of 156, the defending champions found themselves in a bit of a pickle at 106/6 before Dhoni and Dwaine Pretorius’ partnership flourished to drag the game till the last over, which the Dhoni territory as the former CSK skipper was set to unleash on Jaydev Unadkat.
Needing 16 runs from the last four balls, Dhoni clattered Unadkat for 6, 4, 2, 4, taking CSK home and remained unbeaten on 28 runs in just 13 balls. He was well supported by Pretorius, who scored 22 off 14, releasing off some pressure from Dhoni with two boundaries in the 19th over to Bumrah.
Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann who is a commentator in the IPL 2022 took to Twitter to hail the “greatest finisher” Dhoni. Swann said that doesn’t matter what age Dhoni is – 40 years and 288 days – he will never be written off.
“You can never write off the greatest finisher, MS Dhoni! Heartbreaking for @mipaltan but amazing for @ChennaiIPL,” tweeted Graeme Swann, who was among the millions of netizens whose minds were blown away by another Dhoni finish.
Here, check out Graeme Swann’s special tweet for MS Dhoni:
You can never write off the greatest finisher, MS Dhoni! Heartbreaking for @mipaltan but amazing for @ChennaiIPL
— Graeme Swann (@Swannyg66) April 21, 2022
CSK skipper Ravindra Jadeja said until Dhoni was at the crease, they had the belief.
“We were very tense the way game was going. But the great finisher of the game was still there, so we knew we had a chance. He’s still here and doing it for us,” Jadeja said after the game.
Super Kings now have their second win in the tournament out of 7 matches. The playoff berth looks far at the moment, but as has been Dhoni’s mantra all his career, the defending champions will focus only on the next game instead of thinking too much about a playoff spot.
