IPL 2020: MS Dhoni turns the clock back

Bengaluru, October 14: His reflexes might have slowed and he may not be the finisher who he was once, but there is still an aura surrounding Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he turned the clock back during Chennai Super Kings' 20-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 29 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Dubai International Cricket stadium on Tuesday (October 13) night.

After losing five of their opening seven matches, this was realistically a must-win contest for last year's IPL runners-up, and their 167 for six paved the way for a 20-run victory.

When SRH got to 141 for six by the end of the 18th over, this clash in Dubai was in the balance, but Shardul Thakur and Dwayne Bravo applied the brakes to concede only six further runs.

Kane Williamson made 57 from 39 balls for Sunrisers, but they finished on 147 for eight, falling short by 20 runs.

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CSK promoted Sam Curran to open the innings with Shane Watson, who surprisingly came in at No.3 top-scoring with 42, but it was skipper Dhoni who hogged the limelight in the end.

The maverick added 21 handy runs at the end of his team's innings as it was vintage Dhoni and one shot will live long in the memory.

T Natarajan sent down a delivery that was close to being a yorker, but left Dhoni with just enough room to shuffle his feet and club the ball over long-on and into the top tier of the stand, a shot that was said to have travelled 102 metres.

The CSK bowlers later did the job for the team, but Dhoni's six will remain etched in the memories of fans and aficionados for a long time.

The result meant SRH are joined on six points from eight games by CSK with both sides still in with a shot of finishing in the top four.

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CSK next take on Delhi Capitals at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday (October 17).

SRH have a four-day break as their next match is a day-game against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday (October 18) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.