Dhoni adds another milestone to his book of achievements by playing his 200th IPL match
- Stump Talk
- April 13, 2023
- IPL, IPL2023
- Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2023, TATA IPL 2023
- 0 Comments
#Whistlepodu was trending at Chepauk. Dhoni is destined to win with 21 needed off six balls. Two wides later, Sandeep Sharma shows up to work!
Dhoni adds another milestone to his book of achievements by playing his 200th IPL match.
Rajasthan Royals 175 for 8 beat Chennai Super Kings 172 for 6 by three runs.
Mr N Srinivasan, former Chairman of the ICC, former President of BCCI and TNCA, Mrs. Chitra Srinivasan and Mrs Rupa Gurunath present @msdhoni with a special memento commemorating the very special 200th 👏#TATAIPL | #CSKvRR | @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/nixs6qsq2P
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 12, 2023
Chennai Super Kings showed up early to work, with Tushar Deshpande taking a wicket and bowling excellent lengths. From the field interactions, Dhoni was clearly spending enough time with him honing his skills. The stadium roared at almost every Dhoni sighting on the big screen.
Theekshana nearly struck early, with Moeen dropping a fast one at the slips. The Royal Padikkal raced away with some eye-pleasing shots; he looked more comfortable by the over and standing tall at the crease.
After Shane Warne, I believe the Royals have produced many favourites, including Jos Buttler, who we all love to see a bat! He took off late but got two power hits off Moe.
Moeen Ali’s having a tough day at work!
The reliable Jadeja for one of the most exciting overs. He gets Padikkal! An impressive little knock ends prematurely. Tosses it up and landed it on a length outside off; he had to fetch the sweep from outside off. Ends up top-edging it straight to Conway at a deep backward square leg.
The same over a jaffa from Jadeja sends Sanju Samson early to the pavilion. He bowls it on a length around off and middle and gets it to straighten just enough. There is good bounce on that, and Samson had no time to adjust and gets beaten on the outside comprehensively. The noise at Chepauk is deafening!
If Sangakkara is teaming up with Ashwin for some mind games, it’s working. Ashwin shows up, surprising all of us! The experiment should have worked better, but he still gets a decent score. Rajasthan Royals went without a boundary for five overs, slowing down the run rate and JB’s innings. Finally, a boundary off Theekshana and lofts two dancing sixes, that footwork is easily a new dance genre.
A breakthrough for the suave Moe Ali, Buttler loses his off-stump! Tosses it up generously and lands it on a length outside off. It dips enough to pass under Buttler’s attempted swipe across the line. Uproots the off stump, and Moe can breathe now.
Hetmeyer managed a decent 30* with some flying blows, but the remainder of the innings didn’t inspire a 200+ score.
If Sangakkara is teaming up with Ashwin for some mind games, it’s working. Ashwin shows up, surprising all of us! The experiment should have worked better, but he still gets a decent score. Rajasthan Royals went without a boundary for five overs, slowing down the run rate and JB’s innings. Finally, a boundary off Theekshana and lofts two dancing sixes, that footwork is easily a new dance genre. Ashwin goes off to win the Man of the Match, combining it with some crucial spin work later that day!
A breakthrough for the suave Moe Ali, Buttler loses his off-stump! Tosses it up generously and lands it on a length outside off. It dips enough to pass under Buttler’s attempted swipe across the line. Uproots the off stump, and Moe can breathe now.
Hetmeyer managed a decent 30* with some flying blows, but the remainder of the innings didn’t inspire a 200+ score.
CSK’s boy genius Gaikwad this year doesn’t disappoint. Akash Singh and Sandeep kept the lines tight, but he seems unwavering and comfortable…except for that little ouchie trying to stop the bowler.
CSK struggles with Gaikwad’s early departure. Rahane gets quick 31 runs but couldn’t stay at the pitch longer. The spin circle of Yuzi, Zampa and Ashwin spin the rest and pack them up quickly until…Dhoni.
I’ve never seen a stadium applaud a No. 8 as much as they did with the Thala himself, and why are we surprised? We are presented with a vintage partnership of Jadeja and Dhoni lofting the ball in the death overs shuddering the Royals camp from every ball. Dhoni lives up to the expectation, and in his 200th match, he’s batting like he’s here to win it.
Two overs to go, Chennai need 40 off Jason Holder, and they manage 19 runs, and Jadeja lives up to the hype!
Sandeep Sharma needs one last over and 21 runs off a new bowler that we are excited to see more of. A nervous Sharma runs in and bowls two wides. Who can blame him? The astronomical odds are against him, with Dhoni on the other side.
Can you imagine being at the other end of the world’s most loved cricketer?
I can. No wonder he bowled those two wides.
After a dot ball, he gives away two sixes. Who can blame him?
Sanju and the rest of the team let him do his thing, I didn’t see a frantic Pandya-like figure hovering over the bowler or a wise Dhoni quietly giving non-verbal cues, or maybe they were?
We learnt in the post-match interview that Sandeep loves and is good at yorkers, and that’s what he wanted to bowl; he missed twice, but props to him on self-belief and trying again!
He nails the remaining two for singles, and suddenly, Chepauk is a graveyard, but Sandeep dances on graves like the evil genius who won a banger for his team.
A death-over win for the bowler, a rare occurrence. Sandeep goes against all those astronomical odds to come off as the winner.
What an impressive over!
The IPL yet again served us a 4th massive nail-biter in a row. This is definitely the best edition we’ve seen so far.
