New hairstyle, but as brutal as ever
RANCHI: If fans had felt they did not get their money’s worth on Sunday despite a Chennai Super Kings victory, MS Dhoni ensured Ranchi went home on Thursday raving about him. Chants of ‘Dhoni Dhoni’ urged the local boy to pad up before Dwayne Bravo and give his hometown fans a treat. Dhoni took three balls to get his eye in before unleashing a mayhem that undid Steyn’s good work, made Suresh Raina’s 57-ball 84 look snail-slow, and shredded Thisara Perera’s confidence. It left Sunrisers Hyderabad with a formidable 203 to chase.
It was the 18th over when Dhoni unleashed his powerpacked shots against Perera, an Ishant misfield to concede a second run off the second legal delivery in the over only allowed him to retain strike and unleash four sixes in a row. At one point Dhoni had hit 36 of his 43 runs off sixes before calming down to carve Steyn for a four past point. A quick two saw Dhoni get his 50 off just 16 deliveries, the quickest in CLT20 history. He whacked Darren Sammy for two more sixes before finally strolling to 63 off 19 balls. Off the 35 balls Chennai faced after Dhoni joined the party, 87 runs were scored!
CHEAP DISMISSAL
It was not a great start for Chennai. Murali Vijay again departed in the first over, edging Steyn to rival skipper Shikhar Dhawan at slip. But for Raina, it could have been a slower start. With the outfield getting heavy with dew, Dhawan slowed down the game by introducing leg-spinner Amit Mishra after good initial spells from Steyn and Ishant.
With Mishra using the crease cleverly to vary his line, Chennai were forced to take more singles. Raina however showed his temperament by running harder and making sure the loose balls weren’t spared.