MS Dhoni fans on Friday got treated with a vintage innings from the Chennai Super Kings former captain. Facing Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow and with his team down by six wickets, MS Dhoni came at the crease late and made an instant impact. The World Cup-winning captain hit two sixes and three fours to score a nine-ball 28*. The late cameo was crucial in CSK scoring 176/6 in 20 overs. The short but entertaining knock had the Lucknow crowd on its feet.
Though the match was played in Lucknow, the support was immense for CSK and especially Dhoni. LSG star opener Quinton de Kock‘s wife Sasha was at the stands where the crowd at the Ekana Stadium burst into a loud cheer for MS Dhoni as decibel levels rose.
Sasha posted an image on Instagram stories with the captain, “When MS Dhoni comes out to bat.” Along with the caption she posted an image of a notification on her smartwatch saying, “Loud environment – Sound level hits 95 decibels. Just 10 minutes at this level can cause temporary hearing loss.”
LSG had checked CSK’s run flow until Moeen Ali (30 off 20 balls) and MS Dhoni (28 off 9) went berserk to take CSK to a fighting 176 for six.
“Halfway stage, I would have been happy with 160. Felt the wicket was slow, a bit of grip but not too much. 160-165 would have been ideal,” LSG captain KL Rahul said.
“But MSD walks in and the bowlers feel intimidated. He walks in and bowlers were under pressure, the crowd was really loud, he has done it in the past.”
Chasing 177, Rahul (82) and De Kock (54) batted with authority during their match-winning alliance of 134, the highest partnership for any wicket at the Ekana Stadium, as LSG scored 180 for 2 in 19 overs.
“Felt that if we bat well, we could chase it down. I have been trying to assess the situation and today it came off. With Chennai’s spinners, they tried to put brakes on us,” he said.
“We tried to get to a good start. Tried to take them down, luckily it came off. When your partnership goes on, you can take a few more chances. Glad that it happened.”
With PTI inputs
