IPL 2024: MSD’s hat-trick of sixes trumps Rohit Sharma ton as Dhoni’s love affair with Wankhede continues
- CSK’s crucial four-ball cameo in the last over ensures that they win at the Mumbai Indians’ stadium.
Rohit Sharma’s outstanding 105 off 63 balls was offset by a four-wicket haul from Pathirana and a hat-trick of sixes from Dhoni, as Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by 20 runs. Dhoni’s affection for Wankhede remained unwavering as his final 4-ball 20-run cameo proved to be the difference.
MSD’s three consecutive sixes
Watching Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the batting field was the sole desire of the large crowd of Chennai Super Kings supporters gathered at Wankhede Stadium. After all, he hit the famous six that ended India’s World Cup victory 13 years ago at this sacred ground.
Never say never when it comes to Dhoni – he never lets you down – in what might have been his final IPL match at the venue. When Dhoni appeared on the big screen during CSK’s innings, there was an unbearable roar. Toward the end, when they saw him put on his helmet, the noise level increased. Fans rarely hope for their own team to lose a wicket, but that’s the nature of Dhonimania.
The crowd went wild as Daryl Mitchell himself came out to bat after he was caught at long-on with the second ball of the last over. And his sole goal in coming was to give the person a backhand as hard as he possibly could. This is how he mocked the bowling of Hardik Pandya.
First ball: six over the far side
Six over long-on with the second ball
Third ball: His team’s total surpassed 200 with six over deep square-leg.
The final delivery missed the batsman’s bottom edge, but Dhoni still managed to score a few runs to end with 20 off of just four balls and raise the roof of Wankhede Stadium for the countless times. It could have been a flawless six-ball match.
Pathirana’s four-wicket victory
Matheesha Pathirana, a pacer from Sri Lanka, has been dangerous this season but hasn’t really changed the game. That changed on Sunday when he claimed four wickets in four overs, giving up just 28 runs (12 of which came in his final over with the game in CSK’s grasp), which helped CSK win the match. The wickets taken at pivotal moments proved to be more important than his economy in turning the tide of the match in CSK’s favour.
When the ball was sent to Pathirana in the ninth over, MI was looking dangerous. He removed Ishan Kishan, who had picked out Shardul Thakur at midwicket, with the very first ball he bowled. Two balls later, Mustafizur Rahman made a sensational catch on the boundary to get rid of the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav. To secure the deal for CSK, Pathirana first removed hard-hitting Guyanese player Romario Shepherd before taking the wicket of Tilak Varma.
Dube and Ruturaj Shivam continue their outstanding run. This IPL season, Dube has been playing at his best ever. He continued his exceptional play against MI at his home field. On the eve of the game, CSK coach Stephen Fleming discussed how Dube worked on his weak point, which is short balls. According to Fleming, “He worked on the mental aspect of it too.” It was clear to see as Dube punished Romario Shepherd and Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya for trying to bowl short, even though they weren’t quite accurate.
Dube’s hitting power will make it difficult for the selectors to overlook him for the T20 World Cup later this year, as Fleming said.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the new captain of CSK, has come under fire on social media from supporters who think he moves too slowly, even though he has been playing well this season. He batted at No. 3 instead of opening the innings, but it made no difference as he supported Fleming’s remark that he was “cut from the same cloth as MS Dhoni” with a 40-ball 69 at a strike rate of 172.5.
The off-spinners and Nabi
Mohammad Nabi, the Afghan off-spinner for Mumbai, had stated on the eve of the game that the Wankhede presents a significant challenge for off-spinners due to the dew factor and the batting-dominant character of Twenty20 cricket. “It’s quite difficult to bowl as an off-spinner at Wankhede. It’s harder to bowl here as an off-spinner, but leg-spinners come in a number of types, he said.
When Pandya gave Nabi the new ball, he knew that CSK would dominate the middle overs, so he wanted him to end his spell as soon as possible. Not to be outdone, Nabi bowled brilliantly, varying his pace to limit the CSK hitters and give Mumbai a perfect start, giving up just 19 runs in his 3 overs.
In T20 cricket, then, off-spinners can be useful. Nabi would wish to retract what he said.
MI’s first offensive & Rohit’s massive
Mumbai fought back to win the next two games after dropping their first three. Jasprit Bumrah played a crucial role in preventing the opposition from scoring excessively, but it was MI’s opening duo of Kishan and Rohit Sharma that brilliantly opened the innings.
Their opening stand against Delhi Capitals yielded eighty runs. They scored 101 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the following game, and 70 more against CSK on Sunday before Kishan left.
Despite Rohit’s outstanding innings of 105 off 63 balls, which included 11 boundaries and five sixes for his maiden century of the year, the match was lost in the absence of the necessary support.
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