New Delhi: MS Dhoni's fans are quite aware of his inspiring run-chases that have led India and IPL franchises to epic triumphs in the past. The former India skipper rolled back pages to do just that once again as he guided Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) to a thrilling six wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a last ball thriller Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 contest at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday.
The Jharkhand batsman's heroics against Sunrisers even got Harsh Goenka - brother of RPS owner Sanjeev Goenka who has been criticising Dhoni's performance in the IPL 10 – come out and praise the Captain Cool after he produced yet another legendary run chase.
Masterful innings by Dhoni. Great to see him back in form. Nobody can be a greater finisher. Takes @RPSupergiants to a nail-biting win.
— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) April 22, 2017
"Masterful innings by Dhoni. Great to see him back in form. Nobody can be a greater finisher. Takes @RPSupergiants to a nail-biting win," tweeted Goenka.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians batsman Ambati Rayudu had hit out at Harsh Goenka on Twitter, soon after Mahi had led RPS to a scintillating triumph over SRH.
Great knock @msdhoni . Can some one plz gift a mirror to @hvgoenka.
— Ambati Rayudu (@RayuduAmbati) April 22, 2017
"Great knock @msdhoni . Can some one plz gift a mirror to @hvgoenka," Rayudu wrote on his twitter account.
With 47 needed off the last three overs, the situation was tailor made for one of the best finishers in world cricket, and Dhoni (61 not out from 34 balls), started in his usual fashion taking time to settle down before unleashing his power against the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
In the 18th over, the Ranchi stumper dispatched Siraj for a flat six over long-on before helping the ball over point and short third man for a four the next ball to milk 17 runs from the over.
The penultimate over witnessed a vintage Dhoni smashing two consecutive boundaries before using his bottom hand to launch Bhuvneshwar for a powerful six over long-on to reach his half century and leave Pune needing 11 from the final over.
The final over had medium pacer Siddharth Kaul going for a six in the very first ball from Manoj Tiwary (17 not out) before Dhoni finished off in style with a boundary through extra cover. Dhoni`s match-winning knock was laced with five hits to the fence and three over it.
(With IANS inputs)
