Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s swashbuckling 84 went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore edged past Chennai Super Kings by one run in a last-ball thriller on Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive in the Indian Premier League.
Although CSK started their chase of 161 on a poor note, captain Dhoni almost pulled off a miracle win with his classic last-over fireworks. With the defending champions needing 26 off the last over, Dhoni kept his side in the game with a four off the first ball.
But it was on the second ball that Dhoni gave a throwback to the immense-hitting he is capable of at his peak. It was a short of length delivery from Umesh Yadav and it was smacked out to the roof by Dhoni. The gigantic six was clobbered at a distance of 111-meters as he timed his shot to perfection.
The shot left everyone, from the fans to the RCB dugout, stunned. The 37-year-old smashed five fours and seven sixes in his 48-ball blitz but it was this massive shot played with seeming ease that stood out. And despite the narrow, one-run loss to bottom-sitters RCB, the innings gave Indian fans much to cheer.
Two more sixes later, he missed the final ball from Yadav and while he and Shardul Thakur ran to get the final two runs, Bangalore wicket keeper Parthiv Patel hit the stumps to run out Thakur.
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Earlier Dhoni had lifted his side from a precarious 28/4 in the sixth over. He built crucial partnerships including a 55-run fifth-wicket stand with Ambati Rayudu, who made 29, to try and calculate the chase.
“We did really well to restrict RCB below par. I think it was more of a calculation mistake that we lost wickets early on,” said the CSK skipper.
“T20 is all about taking risks, but you can still calculate. A lot of boundaries were needed, right now you can calculate, one run there, and two runs there and we just lost by one run. But you can also say we missed some boundaries.”