MS Dhoni of the Chennai Super Kings celebrates his half century during match 1 of the IPL between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede stadium. (Photo by Saikat Das / Sportzpics for IPL) MS Dhoni cleared any lingering doubts about his batting abilities at the Wankhede Stadium as he hit 7 boundaries and a six on his way to a half-century in the opening match of IPL 2022 between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
This was the 24th IPL half-century for Dhoni, his first since April 21, 2019 (84* vs RCB). He had come to bat when his side was tottering at 61/5 and he unleashed his fury on the KKR bowlers, who up until that point, were dominating the CSK batting line-up.
Unburdened by captaincy, Dhoni smashed his first IPL fifty in nearly three years but Kolkata Knight Riders dished out a clinical bowling show to restrict Chennai Super Kings to 131/5
CSK crossed the 130-run mark thanks to Dhoni’s unbeaten 50 off 38 balls (7×4; 1×6) and skipper Ravindra Jadeja’s 26 not out off 28 balls (1×6).
All the balls of last 2 overs faced by Dhoni + his 50 highlights. pic.twitter.com/f0EQYMUyTw
— 𝕽𝖆𝖙𝖓𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖊𝖕 (@_ratna_deep) March 26, 2022
CSK had lost half of their side for 61 after Shivam Dube (3) gave a sitter to Sunil Narine at short-midwicket off pacer Andre Russell.
Then, Jadeja and Dhoni added 70 runs for the sixth wicket to take CSK to a respectable total. The past and present captain duo initially played a barrage of dot balls but Dhoni hammered three boundaries in the 18th over, in which CSK amassed 14 runs.
The Finisher MS Dhoni 🔥🔥#CSKvKKR #KKRvCSKpic.twitter.com/hDruGQljD8
— CRICKET VIDEOS 🏏 (@AbdullahNeaz) March 26, 2022
Showing glimpses of his famous match-finishing prowess, Dhoni fetched a boundary and a six in the penultimate over, from which CSK got 15 runs.
The duo added 18 runs in the final over with Jadeja hitting a six off the final ball, as CSK added 74 runs in the final 10 overs.
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