Dhoni takes J’khand into semi-final with trademark six
MS Dhoni-led Jharkhand entered the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy after outplaying Vidarbha by six wickets at the Palam Ground, here on Thursday.
It was a rather fitting end to the game with Dhoni hitting a straight six in the first ball off Ganesh Satish.
Choosing to bat, Vidarbha found themselves in dire straits at 87 for seven before Ravi Jangid came up with a fighting 62 to take his team to 159 in 50 overs.
Jharkhand’s potent pacers Varun Aaron, Rahul Shukla and Rahul Shukla tested the opposition with short-pitched stuff on a lifeless track, sharing four wickets among themselves.
Later, Jharkhand openers Pratyush Singh (33) and Ishan Kishan (35) provided a solid start before Dhoni (18 not out) and Ishank Jaggi (41 not out) completed the chase in 45.1 overs.
The quarter-final attracted attention due to Dhoni but the slow pitch posed problems for the batsmen.
With Jharkhand going about their chase comfortably, it did not seem Dhoni would need to come out in the middle. However, to the delight of people who were clung to the fence since morning, the moment did arrive with fall of Saurabh Tiwary at 116 for four and team needing another 44 runs for a semi-final spot.
It was not a surprise that everything that came off his willow was cheered, be it a straight forward defence, a quick single or a boundary.
Batting alongside Jaggi, Dhoni’s first boundary was a cover drive off left-arm spinner Jangid. The duo, realising that strokeplay was difficult on the surface, collected singles and complemented their stand with an odd boundary.