At Visakhapatnam, MS Dhoni slammed two fours and two sixes in the last over of an IPL 2024 match against Anrich Nortje today (March 31).
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Ahead of the 2024 IPL, MS Dhoni had stepped down as Chennai Super Kings captain, handing over the reins to Ruturaj Gaikwad. He did not need to bat in the first two matches of the season as Chennai beat both Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans with ease.
Delhi Capitals, however, provided a sterner challenge after Prithvi Shaw (43 in 27 balls), David Warner (52 in 35), and Rishabh Pant (51 in 32) took them to 191-5.
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Khaleel Ahmed then took out the Chennai openers quickly before Ajinkya Rahane (45 in 30 balls) kept Chennai in the game, but Mukesh Kumar’s (3-21) triple-wicket burst turned the tide in Delhi’s favour.
That was also when, with an improbable 72 needed in 23 balls, MS Dhoni walked out bat for the tournament amidst thundering applause from the Visakhapatnam crowd.
He pulled the first ball he faced, from Mukesh, for four. He cut the second ball, but Khaleel grassed the chance. He got the strike back, and blasted the last ball to the cover fence. In the next over, he made room and lofted Khaleel over the extra-cover boundary for six.
The match was sealed when Anrich Nortje ran in to bowl the last over of the match. With 41 to score, there was only the net run rate to play for. Dhoni smashed the first ball to the cover boundary, hit the second ball one handed over mid-wicket for six, hammered the fourth ball to the long-on fence, and hit another six over extra-cover to round things off.
Dhoni finished on an unbeaten 16-ball 37 with four fours and three sixes, his highest score since 2022.
