Guwahati: Former Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni took Chennai Super Kings to their ninth final after
beating Delhi Capitals by four wickets on Sunday.
According to reports, Delhi Capitals will get another shot at making it to the final when they meet the winner of the eliminator between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB, scheduled to be held on Monday.
As per a match report, needing 13 off the last over, Dhoni hit a square cut, got a bit of luck going his way and then pulled DC’s best bowler Tom Curran for the most celebrated T20 boundary of recent times.
Prior to that, Dhoni slapped Avesh Khan for a six over midwicket, said the report.
Delhi Capitals bowler Curran and Avesh weren’t bad but it was one of those days, the cricketing Gods wanted the
40-year-old to finish it in style.
It was 18 not out in six balls that helped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) reach 173 for 6 in 19.4 overs.
Earlier, Rishabh Pant showed no signs of his self-confessed “nervousness” as his unbeaten 51 off 35 balls propelled Delhi Capitals to a competitive score of 172 off 5 balls.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa’s century stand laid the base for Chennai Super Kings, rendering fifties from Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant in vain.
“My innings was a crucial one. Delhi has a very good bowling attack. They exploited the conditions well, so we knew it would be tough. I’ve not done a lot in the tournament, so wanted to look for the ball and see what the bowler can do,” another match report quoted Dhoni as saying.
“I was batting well in the nets. But wasn’t thinking too much, if you think too much while batting then you mess your plans up. Shardul has done decent batting, as has Deepak. He/they are allowed to go for the shots from first ball unlike other top-order batters.”
“Robin enjoys batting at the top but Moeen has been excellent at No. 3. But we have created a situation where either of them could bat at No. 3 depending on the situation and the opposition. Whenever Ruturaj and I have a chat, its a simple chat. Want to know what he was thinking.”
“Its good to see how well he has improved. He is someone willing to bat 20 overs. Last season was the first time we didnt qualify into playoffs. But we wanted to just make use of the 3-4 games left last season, and a lot of our batters made use of that. That is the reason why we have come back strongly this season,” he added.
