Chennai had scored 165 for 7 till the 19th over against Gujarat in the first match of the Indian T20 League 2023 on Friday. The Yellow Army needed the finishing touch and it was provided by none other than MS Dhoni. He made a quickfire 14 off 7 balls with one four and one six to help the team finish off well. He struck his first six of the season to Josh Little in the final over. It was a back of length delivery and Dhoni latched on to it with a ferocious pull over deep square.
The crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium lost their wits. Fans became wilder and the crowd’s decibel levels touched the roof. This shot also would have reminded many of the MS Dhoni of 2018. 2018 was a comeback year for Chennai and the skipper had scored 455 runs that season and helped Chennai win the trophy with his middle-order contributions.
Here is the video of Dhoni’s six:
The box office – MS Dhoni's six. pic.twitter.com/p7qd7dKo6d
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 31, 2023
His 14 off 7 took Chennai to 178-7 in their 20 overs. It was a very peculiar innings from Chennai’s point of view. Barring Gaikwad’s 92 off 50 balls with four fours and nine sixes, none of the other batters could get going. Moeen Ali played a quick 23 off 17 balls with four fours and one six. Devon Conway was the first to go with a cracker of a ball from Shami.
Ben Stokes did not have the best of returns in the Indian T20 League as he fell for 7 off 6. Ambati Rayudu made 12 off 12 with one six. Shivam Dube made a rusty 19 off 18 balls with one six. The Mumbai left-hander could not get going. The Gujarat bowlers made best use of the Ahmedabad pitch.
Shami picked up 2-29 in his four overs. The Afghan spin sensation Rashid Khan took 2-26 in his four over spell. Alzarri Joseph picked 2-33 in his four over burst. Chennai were also the first franchise to use the impact player rule. In the second innings, Rayudu was subbed out for Tushar Deshpande, who became the first impact player in the Indian T20 League.
