MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings lost to Rajasthan Royals by three runs which was a big setback for the team.
However, Dhoni did not promote himself up the order during the run-chase which can also be the reason why CSK lost the game.
On the other hand, Dhoni did show his vintage self to the audience as he played a knock of 32 runs from 17 balls and hit some low sixes in the final over of the game.
Now, seeing Dhoni’s performance in the recent game, former England skipper, Eoin Morgan has commented that the CSK skipper knows what’s best for him and his team and would promote himself up the order in CSK’s future matches.
Says Morgan,
Their batting lineup is probably as strong as it’s going to be at the moment. I know he likes to put himself down the order, otherwise, we would’ve seen him promoting himself (by now). I don’t envisage him batting higher than normal at the moment. Potentially, in the playoffs, in different circumstances, he might. But I don’t see it right now. He’s the best judge of himself and if he doesn’t feel that, it isn’t the best time.
Furthermore, Dhoni has been playing some very vintage knocks and being the best version of himself in this season of the IPL.
Dhoni loses thriller game against Rajasthan Royals
Coming back to the game, then in the first innings, the visitors posted a total of 175 runs and asked CSK to chase down 176 runs.
For RR, the contributions came from Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Paddikal, and Ravichandran Ashwin. However, in the second innings, Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to make any impact and was sent to the dugout quite early in the game.
But, his partner, Devon Conway scored 50 runs and kept the run-chase alive for Chennai Super Kings. After him, Dhoni and Jadeja took the game to the very end.
Jadeja scored 25 runs as CSK required 19 runs in the last over. With some hard-hitting by Dhoni, the chances of CSK winning the game were close, but some good bowling from Sandeep Sharma ensured that the visitors won the game.
With this win, Rajasthan Royals are now top of the points table with 6 points whereas Chennai Super Kings are in 5th place with 4 points.
Follow Crickdom on Twitter for more.
