The second ODI between Australia and India of the ongoing three-match series witnessed a classic MS Dhoni chase. The former Indian skipper came in at number five after the dismissal of Ambati Rayudu. At that point in time, the side still needed 139 runs to win the game from 116 balls. As he usually does, MS Dhoni didn’t take many risks and tried to acclimatize to the conditions.
He played the anchor and supported Virat Kohli at the other end who just began to shift gears. There weren’t any signs of aggression from Dhoni until Virat got to his 39th ODI ton. He emphasized on rotating the strike and seemed to be determined to make an impact. The veteran batsman ran hard between the wickets even after keeping for 50 overs in scorching heat and that also made him tired in the end.
MS Dhoni first took 24 balls to score the first 12 runs. Then, he slowly shifted to the second gear. The wicket-keeper batsman was batting on 25 off 34 balls when Kohli got out. India still needed 57 runs to win the game from 38 balls. He broke the shackles immediately in the next over when he hit a six off Nathan Lyon’s bowling over mid-wicket.
WATCH – MS Dhoni’s Half Run Got Unnoticed In Adelaide
But, with Karthik running hard and scoring runs quickly at the other end, MS started giving more strike to him. He definitely improved the scoring rate without taking any chances. Seven runs were needed off the last over for India to win the game and Jason Behrendorff was the bowler.
Dhoni took India over the line for his team by hitting a six off the first ball reminding the fans of the Clint McKay six that he smashed at the same venue in 2012. Then, he took a cheeky single off the next ball to finish the game and registered his 69th ODI half-century in the process.
The ICC seemed to be elated watching MS Dhoni bat that way and decided to take up the 10 Year Challenge. The official social media handles of the ICC posted a picture of one of India’s greatest limited-overs batsmen finished a game in 2009 as well as 2019. ‘#2009vs2019 @msdhoni still smashing sixes and finishing chases!’ the tweet read.
#2009vs2019@msdhoni still smashing sixes and finishing chases! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/fv0wvz3rnS
— ICC (@ICC) January 15, 2019
