IPL 2022: MS Dhoni’s finishing touch seals last-over win for CSK

The match between MI & CSK was the kind of game where Ravindra Jadeja spilled two chances, Ishan Kishan fell over missing a fairly innocuous ball and Ruturaj Gaikwad gifted a first-ball half-tracker straight to backward point. Yet this scrappy contest on a gripping DY Patil Stadium surface had the classic MS Dhoni act to end it.

With 16 needed off four balls from Jaydev Unadkat, Dhoni – with a six straight down the ground, a pull for four, a hustling double and a heave off a low full toss past short fine leg – took CSK over the line in a manner few others can. The holders got to MI’s 155/7 with three wickets to spare for their season’s second win. MI slumped to their seventh loss in seven games. Teams have sneaked into the play-offs with 14 points in seven previous seasons, but for this MI unit it appears a distant dream.

Recently retired from international cricket, Pollard connected one over long-on but some good old street-smart CSK tactics—perhaps with a touch of Dhoni—saw him hole out to a straight boundary rider positioned between long off and long on. It was only after some late blows by Varma, who reached his fifty in 42 balls, and Unadkat in a 35-run eighth-wicket stand off 16 balls that MI’s total went beyond 150.