IPL 2023, CSK Vs RR: MS Dhoni, the captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), was denied a fairytale finish on his record 200th match as captain in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). Rajasthan Royals (RR) secured a thrilling three-run victory on Wednesday night, as Sandeep Sharma held his nerve in the final over to stop Dhoni's charge.
With 21 runs required in the last six balls, Dhoni seemed to be leading CSK towards an improbable win. After two wides and a dot ball, the CSK captain smashed two consecutive sixes on the next two deliveries from Sandeep. Dhoni's valiant assault shortened the target to just 7 runs from 3 balls reigniting CSK's hopes. However, Sandeep responded with immaculate yorkers which proved too much for CSK. He surrendered just a single of his last three deliveries to help RR secure a win.
As the IPL match progressed to almost a photo-finish situation involving Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the online volume for IPL fans surged. JioCinema, the official digital broadcaster of IPL 2023, share a screenshot which showed that nearly 2.2 crore people had tuned in to watch the final moments of CSK Vs RR, as Dhoni was on the crease and everything was possible from there.
The Chennai Super Kings had required 54 runs off the final three overs and while both, Dhoni and his batting partner Ravindra Jadeja, decided to rotate strike against Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, they attacked Adam Zampa (14 runs) and Jason Holder (19 runs) before Sandeep eventually helped RR to a close win in Chennai.
Earlier, CSK had won the toss and opted to bowl. Despite Dhoni's unbeaten 32 off 17 deliveries and Jadeja's 25 off 15 balls, CSK's efforts fell short as Jos Buttler's 52, Devdutt Padikkal's 38, and Shimron Hetymer's unbeaten 30 helped RR score 175/8.
This was not the first time when CSK drove the fans in Chennai crazy with his power-hitting this year. In the side's previous game at Chepauk, Dhoni, arriving during the final over of the game, smashed two successive sixes against Mark Wood of the Lucknow Super Giants, helping CSK win the game by 12 runs.