Chennai: M.S. Dhoni contributed with both bat and glove in Chennai Super Kings 80-run win over Delhi Capitals. His late surge propelled CSK to a total of 179/4 and later, he accounted for the wickets of Chris Morris and DC skipper Shreyas Iyer with two stunning stumpings in the same over.
When asked about his glove work in the post-match presentation on Wednesday, Dhoni said that it is “something that comes from tennis-ball cricket”. He warned that youngsters should get the basics right before trying to emulate him. “Still you need to do the basics right and then graduate to the next level. If you want to keep like that, you may commit a lot of mistakes. It’s important to stick to the basics.”
The stumpings came in the 12th over bowled by Ravindra Jadeja. DC were tottering at 83/6, having lost two wickets to Imran Tahir in the previous over. Just one run came off the first three balls and the fourth flew past Morris’ edge and Dhoni took off the bails as soon as he got the ball in his hands. Morris’s foot was up for less than a second and that turned out to be enough for him to be dismissed.
The next wicket came two balls later and this time it was the well settled Iyer, who had to walk. Once again, the ball flew past the batsman’s outside edge and his toe was up for just under a second when Dhoni knocked off the bails. DC never recovered from the blows they received in the 11th and 12th over and crumbled to 99 all out.