Cricket legend along with new captain Ravindra Jadeja pull Chennai out of a disastrous situation against Knight Riders to score 131-5; Rahane scores 44 as opener for Kolkata
CSK’s MS Dhoni raises his bat after scoring an IPL half-century against KKR at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. Pic/BCCI
Mahendra ingh Dhoni brought all his experience to the fore and pulled Chennai Super Kings out of a disastrous situation against Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening game of Indian Premier League-15 on Saturday night.
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Chennai managed to put up 131-5 in their 20 overs, but they were 84-5 in 17 overs. An unbeaten 50 off 38 balls from Dhoni and a 28-ball unbeaten 26 from new skipper Ravindra Jadeja gave CSK a glimmer of hope.
At the time of going to press, KKR were 90-3 after 12 overs, thanks to opener Ajinkya Rahane’s 34-ball 44.
Umesh strikes
KKR’s India pacer Umesh Yadav, although erratic at times, made good use of the bounce on offer from the Wankhede track. He removed both openers—Ruturaj Gaikwad for a duck off the third ball in the opening over. Looking to attack, Gaikwad ended up hitting one to Nitish Rana at slips. In his third over, Yadav dismissed IPL debutant Devon Conway (3) with a short-of-a-length delivery that was pouched by skipper Shreyas Iyer at mid-on. Veteran Robin Uthappa looked determined to pull CSK out of the rut, but a wide from Varun Chakravarthy forced Uthappa to chase it. He failed to connect and wicketkeeper Sheldon Jackson whipped off the bails in a flash. In a tweet, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar said that Jackson’s glove work reminded him of Dhoni.
Ambati Rayudu’s run out after a horrible mix-up with skipper Jadeja and Shivam Dube’s departure for three off Andre Russell further dented CSK.
Dhoni was welcomed to the crease with a deafening applause from the sparse but enthusiastic Wankhede crowd. However, Dhoni’s difficulty in rotating the strike could have dampened the excitement of CSK fans.
Jadeja also found it tough to send the ball to the fence. The elusive boundary for CSK finally came after 48 balls, in the 16th over, thanks to a misfield by Rana at mid-off. Before that boundary, Dhoni had scored just seven runs off 18 balls.
Chants of ‘Dhoni, Dhoni’ would have probably spurred the Indian legend as he smashed three fours off Russell in the 18th over in which 14 runs were scored. More than brute force, Dhoni relied on placement and timing.
The single-handed lofted cover drive off Shivam Mavi in the penultimate over showed why he is a cut above the rest and the top-edged six off a waist-high full toss pumped up the crowd.
KKR drop guard
The discipline that the KKR bowlers displayed throughout the innings was lost towards the end as 47 runs were conceded in the last three overs. Dhoni smacked two consecutive fours and also brought up his first IPL half-century since 2019 in the final over bowled by Russell. Jadeja finished the innings with a six over cover.
Brief scores
CSK 131-5 in 20 overs (MS Dhoni 50*, R Uthappa 28, R Jadeja 26*; U Yadav 2-20) v KKR (scores incomplete)
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