MS Dhoni, the legend of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), is a repeat performer in the Indian Premier League (IPL). On May 8, during the game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens, he hit another milestone as the first player in IPL history to finish 100 innings unbeaten. In that particular game, Dhoni scored 17 runs off 18 balls, thus adding another feather to his already-rich hat.
Dhoni has, in fact, played 241 innings and remained unbeaten 100 times over the years in the IPL, something no other player has ever accomplished. The closest player is Ravindra Jadeja of CSK, who has remained not out 80 times.
Now, about the match: KKR had a splendid start during the chase. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, and Ajinkya Rahane took the KKR score from 0 to 67/1 in first six overs. They were a bit stuck in the middle because of the CSK spinners, but Andre Russell had some late fireworks to take KKR up to 179.
CSK began its chase on the wrong foot, losing five wickets inside the PowerPlay. Among those five wickets was another exciting player making his debut, Urvil Patel, who had played a whirlwind 31 off just 11 balls. But Dewald Brevis started the fightback, hitting Vaibhav Arora for 30 runs in the 11th over and putting CSK on track for victory. Though Chakravarthy dismissed him in the 13th over, Brevis had left his mark.
Shivam Dube contributed to a crucial stand before Dhoni gave it a big blast off the first ball of the final over to bring CSK within touching distance of victory. Anshul Kamboj then scampered for a boundary that sealed the win, the first successful chase of a target above 180 by CSK, with two wickets in hand.
This loss has put KKR at 11 points from 12 games, sitting at sixth in the points table. To stay in the race for a playoff spot, they must win both their remaining matches against SRH and RCB and hope that luck favors them in other results too.
