The master of the quick-draw in cricket, MS Dhoni was at it once again at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui in the second one-day international.
Chasing 325 to level the series, New Zealand were in a spot of bother when they lost Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson in the first powerplay. Colin Munro was soon back in the hut too when the spinners came on. And that left a lot of pressure on the in-form Ross Taylor and Tom Latham.
But the former had no answer to a moment of magic from the Indian wicket-keeper.
With Kedar Jadhav pushing one through that didn’t turn, Taylor’s outside edge was beaten. As he had overbalanced ever so lightly, his back-foot was off the crease for just a brief moment. A matter of milliseconds. And that’s all it took for Dhoni to whip the bails off. When he appeals to the leg umpire for a stumping, you know the batsman is in trouble more often than not and that’s exactly what happened.
Twitter was full of tributes to Dhoni’s incredible wicket-keeping, and not for the first time. Here’s a selection of the best reactions:
The fastest hands in the East conjure up another dismissal. #Dhoni. Game over, I should think.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 26, 2019
How quick was that from Dhoni ⚡⚡#lightening #NZvIND
— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) January 26, 2019
What a stumping DHONI!
— Akash Jain (@akash207) January 26, 2019
What is he made of? Is he a superman? How does he find one such stumping in every match? One blink & you’re gone.
Unbeliveable is the only word for Dhoni. #INDvNZ @msdhoni
Jharkhand Tableau. 💯 pic.twitter.com/IP56tIKEsu
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) January 26, 2019
lightening quick stumping by MSD. #NzvInd pic.twitter.com/EJqLWwmKt3
— Monica (@monicas004) January 26, 2019
OUT. Those Dhoni hands. And that Kedar’s bowling. ☺️🙌🤗 #NZvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 26, 2019
MS Dhoni:
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) January 26, 2019
Beats the bat
Blink your eye
Batsman out
That Ross Taylor stumping 😱🙏🏻🙏🏻 Dhoni is worth another 25-30 runs on the field given the consistency at which he creates these magic stumpings out of nothing!!
— Madhan (@madhanra) January 26, 2019
Hard ball se dar nahi lagta sir. #NZvIND #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/g2MYRdVYfJ
— SAGAR (@sagarcasm) January 26, 2019
OUT!
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) January 26, 2019
That is Dhoni's wicket. Look at the side hug MS. He's a gem. Jewel behind the wickets to the spinners.
That Dhoni stumping! 😱😍 #NZvIND
— Ajith Ramamurthy (@Ajith_tweets) January 26, 2019
Terrific stumping by Dhoni to get rid of in-form Taylor. Dhoni and Jadhav are becoming Jodi No.1 for India!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 26, 2019
Life may give you a second chance, but don't expect a second chance from Dhoni ever, when it comes to his stumping.
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) January 26, 2019
MS Dhoni behind the wickets is unreal.
— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) January 26, 2019
Who needs to take catches when you can stump like that.#Dhoni #NZvInd
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) January 26, 2019
.@msdhoni channeling his inner-flash to execute that stumping!⚡️⚡️ #NZvIND #HallaBol pic.twitter.com/nRgw8ZlGj2
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) January 26, 2019
.@msdhoni & his lightning stumping is still a better Love Story.
— MS Dhoni Fans Official (@msdfansofficial) January 23, 2019
Best Wicket Keeper for a reason!💙#NZvIND #MSDhoni #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/wJ2WZYnuk9