Giving out a bold statement of what to expect in IPL 2019’s title race, Chennai Super Kings defeated fellow title contenders Delhi Capitals by a humongous 80 runs at the Chepauk stadium. With the victory, CSK climbed to the top of the league table with 16 points.
Having been asked to bat first, the home team suffered an early setback after Shane Watson was dismissed for a duck by rookie spinner Jagadeesha Suchith. But Suresh Raina (59) and Faf du Plessis (39) did reasonably well to bring stability by building a partnership of 83 runs. MS Dhoni (44*) then came in to help Chennai post a huge target of 179/4.
The visitors did not have the brightest of starts as Prithvi Shaw returned to the pavilion in the first over itself. Even though Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan steadied the ship by posting a partnership of 48 runs, things went haywire after the latter was dismissed. From 52/1, DC were bowled out for 99 runs with Imran Tahir (4/12) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/9) being the leading wicket-takers.
CSK’s massive victory also coincided with skipper MS Dhoni’s return. And, as you may think, the fans went gaga over the veteran Indian wicket-keeper’s instantaneous impact on the side’s fortune (Chennai had lost 3 of their last 4 games). In fact, even the match officials were cognizant about MSD’s influence on the game, having named him as the match of the match.
Here is how the Twitterati reacted on Dhoni’s heroics:
CSK without Dhoni is like Avengers without Iron Man ?
Thala❤️#CSKvDC pic.twitter.com/EPvMT412Sc— SportCentre (@SportCentre8) May 1, 2019
If a Batsman Leans Two meters ahead Definitely his back foot will raise atleast a millimeter in the air and lands in millisecond
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But Ms Dhoni is not gonna Leave that short time too!!
Ohh ur MS ur absolutely Legend????#MSDhoni #CSKvDC— SHAIK SHARUKH (@im_sharukh_) May 1, 2019
what iron man did for Avengers, same thing Dhoni do for csk.
both are liked by masses.#CSKvDC pic.twitter.com/Ekw75XJP5I— JAI UPADHYAY (@jay_upadhyay14) May 1, 2019
The master of stumping ? @msdhoni#CSKvDC pic.twitter.com/3kQunSa1Zk
— Troll VIP™ ? (@Trollvipoffl) May 1, 2019
This was no Unadkat or Yadav, this was Trent Boult in the final over that Dhoni took to the cleaners. ??????#CSKvDC
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) May 1, 2019
LORD OF STUMPING #Dhoni #CSKvDC @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/W0Yxm5FWsW
— Rohit kumar (@RK_rohit29) May 1, 2019
Boult: I am death over specialist
Dhoni : And I am MS Dhoni.#CSKvDC pic.twitter.com/Y4wF3x5aDz— Sushant Acharya (@Sushant53100475) May 1, 2019
2005 before Vizag ODI:
Phone rings ?
Ganguly: Dhoni, you are in the playing eleven.
Dhoni: Thank You dada!
14 years later, they met again. #CSKvDC pic.twitter.com/JjxvJRpWtQ— Varun Dikshit (@taurausvarun) May 1, 2019
I sometimes wonder ? who is faster between
.
.#Dhoni and lightning
.
.#CSKvDC #DCvsCSK @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/zb0uEpQZ8C— SHASHANK SINGH (@SHASHANK2663) May 1, 2019
#CSKvDC
Another crime has been included under IPC, that u can't lift your feet when #Dhoni is keeping, else u will charged with what DC batsman got pic.twitter.com/Az8mvmnEtx— Rish@bh (@rishabh1123) May 1, 2019
Really its a Thala day…
Perfect Batting, Lightning fast Stumping…
What else we need for this day ?#CSKvDC #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/bwlZyThoBO
— Sunil kumar (@TweetsOfSunil) May 1, 2019
MS Dhoni's captaincy & glovework are two things that are very difficult to quantify (the former more than the latter), but it is clear they add immense value to India & to CSK. CSK consistently exceed expectations & these two mysterious factors are a huge reason why. #IPL #CSKvDC
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) May 1, 2019
Everyone else : Love is in the air.
Dhoni: Foot is in the air ? #CSKvDC pic.twitter.com/gyfWPV3Uul— D. (@d1ksha_) May 1, 2019
Dhoni not just the player of the match, the player for the season for @ChennaiIPL for me by miles. What a big difference he makes. Amazing #CSKvDC
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) May 1, 2019
