MS Dhoni gets a lucky break and enjoys a Royal feast

Three-time IPL champions, Chennai Super Kings, showed why they are the most successful team in the competition with their sterling win over Rajasthan Royals. At the end of the Powerplay, CSK was struggling at 29/3. Luckily, they had the perfect man for such a situation. Playing in his own template, MS Dhoni’s slow-starting late-firing 75(46) carried the team total to 175/5 in 20 overs. This proved enough as Rajasthan Royals fell short by eight runs.

WATCH: Thala Dhoni effect? When even bails refused to fall

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However, the beginning of MS Dhoni’s innings was nothing short of a miracle. After facing one ball from Dhawal Kulkarni, Jofra Archer turned up to have a go at MSD. Archer’s first ball to the legend was straight and short. Dhoni tried defending the delivery from backfoot, it took the inside edge and trickled towards the stumps. The ball went on to hit the base of the stumps, but the bails remained unmoved.

The incident astonished one and all. The lucky reprieve boosted MS Dhoni’s confidence, and he played a characteristic inning. He initially played second fiddle to Suresh Raina. In the death overs, he hammered RR bowlers and finished at 75(46) from being 33(30). Dhoni smashed three consecutive sixes off Unadkat to end CSK’s innings. He won the Man of the Match award for his stunning performance which on an unlucky day could have very well been bowled on 0(2).

Rajasthan Royal’s chase was punctured by CSK seamers as Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur picked up early wickets. Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer made best efforts to get closer, but the Yellow army ensured that the win never slipped away from their hands. Dwayne Bravo defended 12 runs in the last over as CSK surged to the top of the points table.