IPL 2022, MI vs CSK Highlights: MS Dhoni hits last ball four to win it for Chennai

It’s what MS Dhoni did immediately after hitting the final-ball four that brought a smile. He had a decently long chat with Ishan Kishen, animatedly describing an arc in the field, and then spotted the young debutant Hrithik Shokeen, patted his back to commence another chat. How quickly he slipped into the markdarshak mentor role after getting the 16 runs needed off the final four. He first smashed Jaydev Unadkat to the straight boundary, calmly hooked the slow bouncer to fine-leg advertising boards, wrested a two to retain the strike for the final ball where he dragged an attempted yorker past the short fine-leg fielder. All the Dhoni touches were visible: dragging the game to its last breath, knowing there were two overs from Unadkat left to target, first calming down Pretorius, who seemed hellbent in running out himself or Dhoni, before signing off the game in his style, with a last-ball boundary and chats with youngsters.  And as he broke away from Shokeen, there stood Ravindra Jadeja, head bowed in perhaps gratitude and awe, the only befitting reaction possible to the greatest finisher of all time. 

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FOUR! DHONI PUTS IT AWAY! That is why he is the best finisher in the world! Dhoni you absolute beauty! Probably not off the middle but he won't care! He has just turned back the clock. Sprinted for two on the previous ball, took the onus onto him and finishes it off! A low full toss on the pads, Dhoni swings, it goes more off the inner half through backward square leg and into the boundary. CHENNAI WIN IT ON THE LAST BALL BY 3 WICKETS!

SIX! He has hit that some! What a shot. Vintage Dhoni. Brute of a stroke and the noise of the crowd has just gone up that level. This is right in the slot. 10 needed now in three.

Pretorius hits it through the long-off against Bumrah and gets a boundary. Good shot by Pretorius. He scoops it this time and again gets a four. CSK 139/6 after 19 overs

What a shot by Pretorius. He flicks it over the deep square leg and gets a six against Unadkat. That's a super-shot. Some sight of relief for the CSK side. Dhoni also hits a boundary. CSK 128/6 after 18 overs

Jadeja returns to the pavilion, and Meredith picks his wicket. Chennai are in deep trouble now. Dhoni is still at the crease. CSK 106/6 after 15.5 overs

Daniel Sams takes the wicket of Rayudu. He looks to hit a big one but goes back to the pavilion after scoring 40 runs. Good catch by Pollard. CSK 102/5 after 14.5 overs

Rayudu starts the over with a six against Daniel Sams.  That's a release shot by Rayudu. But, wait!! Sams gets the wicket of Shivam Dube. Mumbai are going well now.  CSK 88/4 after 12.5 overs

Shivam Dube shows his finesse with the willow. He smashes it over the mid-off for a huge six against Meredith. That's great batting by Dube. CSK 77/3 after 11 overs

The Delhi youngster Hrithik Shokeen thought he had his first IPL wicket in his first over but it wasn’t to be. He had taken a low return catch, jumped, roared, glared at the batsman Robin Uthappa, who just stood there chewing his gum. Inevitably, the umpires refereed it upstairs to check the legality of the catch. Uthappa kept chewing, Shokeen seemed still confident as his team-mates huddled around him. “Oh he has dragged it along the ground,” Matthew Hayden would say on air. “You see what you wish to see,” Harsha Bhogle would pipe up. As the not out verdict flashed on the screen, and the Mumbai fielders’s shoulders slumped, Uthappa would flash a lovely smile. Next ball, he crash-landed the youngster’s loopy delivery over the sight screen. Shokeen would reach out for his collar, and wipe his mouth. 

Sriram Veera

Uthappa looks to jab the ball but ends up hitting it in the hands of Brevis. Unadkat with a breakthrough this time. Uthappa departs after scoring 30 runs. CSK 66/3 after 9 overs

Uthappa with a huge six this time. He hits it down the ground for a six against Shokeen. What a great shot by Uthappa. Chennai are going strong now. CSK 57/2 after 8 overs

Unadkat to bowl the last over of the powerplay. Uthappa goes straight this time and hits a six. What a way to end the over. This is outstanding batting by CSK. CSK 46/2 after 6 overs

Meredith to bowl the fifth over for Mumbai Indians. Uthappa hits a boundary against Meredith. He plays this one over the covers and fetches a four. CSK 38/2 after 5 overs

Rayudu pulls it this time for a six against Bumrah. What timing by Rayudu. He hits it over backward square leg and gets a maximum. Good batting!!  CSK 29/2 after 4 overs

The extra bounce does the trick and Santner departs. That got big on him and Santner went for the big hit and couldn't control it. Unadkat takes the catch and Daniel Sams celebrates. Santner is gone for 11 off 9 balls. CSK 16/2 after 2.3 overs

It’s one of the most beautiful slower balls in business, Dwayne Bravo’s drop-dead killer. It suspends in the air, almost, just above the eye-level of the batsman. Is it at that point the batsman, Daniel Sams in this case, know that he is about to be done? He is just about committed to a shot when that illusionary suspension happens; then it begins to drop dead. Unlike most other pace deliveries, where a batsman almost doesn’t see what’s happening be it because of the sheer pace or a nasty bouncer or a vicious cutter, here he can see his own demise and the weapon all that much clearer. So, Sams watched in what must be rapidly escalating panic, that he is not going to survive. 

“For the dipper, just before release, I twist the wrist and pull down on the side of the ball. The thumb and fingers don’t work much but sort of flick it out.” he had told this newspaper. “I go for his thigh pad. What I am really looking to bowl is a full toss! The batsman feels it’s going to be a beamer before it dips so fast on him.”

Some batsmen try to complete the bat swing and hope against hope that there is some wood on leather. Some try to change their intended shot and sort of flail their bat around in what they think would be the line. Sams went for the hurried jab-down but his jammed the ground just outside the line of the ball which had sneaked through to rap his pad in line of the off stump. Trapped lbw, trapped by Bravo’s gorgeous honey trap.

FOUR! So two boundaries from the first over and this will ease some nerves in Chennai camp. Santner is on the charge and pulls it in front of square for a boundary. End of an eventful first over. CSK: 9/1 after 1 over

CAUGHT! What a start for Mumbai and the crowd erupts! Gaikwad cuts it but the ball goes straight into the hands of Tilak Varma at point. He takes the catch and Mumbai have got the early wicket they needed. Can they put pressure on Chennai now, Mumbai is a champion team and we can expect them to fight till the end.

The fielding position is appropriately called the 'straight hit'. Rarely seen in top level cricket but a common sight in weekend cricket. Almost bang in the middle and right in front of the sightscreen - between what would have been a very straight long on and a very straight long off stood CSK's Shivam Dube. MS Dhoni placed him there for Kieron Pollard. Or rather it was a dare for Pollard as there was a long on too. In the previous over, Pollard had warmed up with a six over long-on against Maheesh Theekshana, the Lankan spinner. This time Theekshana pulled back the length a bit but the six-hitter in Pollard didn't shy away from the challenge. The ball got the toe end of the bat and though it travelled high it dropped safely in the hands of Dube who hardly moved. Pollard had just swallowed the bait and Dhoni reeled in the line.

Wd 1 4 0 2 6 2 = 16 runs from the last over and Mumbai Indians end with 155/7 in 20 overs. CSK began brilliantly but MI managed to smash 99 runs in the last 10 overs. The target for Chennai Super Kings is 156. In the post-innings interview with Harsha Bhogle, Tilak Varma says there was a bit of dew in the middle. Will it play a part? Let's wait and watch.

SIX! Tilak Varma is keeping the fight going! Very impressive from the young man! It is full, on off. Varma gets under it and launches it over long off for a biggie. He also brings up his fifty!  MI: 139/7 after 19 overs

A Dwayne Bravo special that completely outfoxes Sams there and Mumbai lose their seventh wicket! Bravo goes for his slower yorker on-off. Sams completely misses it as he looks to block it away. MI: 126/7 after 18 overs

Pollard looks to clear the boundary but departs. Theekshana with another breakthrough. Pollard returns to the pavilion after scoring 14 runs. MI: 111/6 after 16.2 overs

Pollard chips it over the long-on and gets a six. He does it against Theekshana. Pollard is playing attacking cricket here. What a hit!! 100 up for Mumbai. MI: 100/5 after 15 overs

Hrithik Shokeen tries to clear the park but ends up hitting it in the hands of Robin Uthappa. Bravo with a breakthrough this time. Great bowling by CSK. MI: 85/5 after 13.3 overs

Rohit Sharma has an unwanted IPL record to his name: most number of ducks. He moved past Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla to get his 14th duck when he had the softest of the dismissals in the second ball against Chennai Super Kings. It was a good ball, allright, swinging in late on the off and middle line from the left-armer Mukesh Choudhary and perhaps it was the late inswing that did it. A touch hesitant, uncommitted on the front foot, Rohit just swayed a bit forward and tapped the ball rather hesitantly. It looped up to mid-on and Sharma had to trudge back. In 7 games now, he has scored just 114 runs this IPL and the pressure on the India’s white-ball captain continues to escalate.

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That's imperious by Shokeen. He smashes it over the covers this time and gets a boundary against Jadeja. Mumbai are going good now. MI: 84/4 after 13 overs

What a shot by Tilak Varma. He slogs it this time against Jadeja and hits a maximum over the deep mid-wicket. This is brilliant cricket by Mumbai Indians. Hrithik Shokeen also hits a boundary.  MI: 69/4 after 11 overs

Santner takes the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav. He tries to sweep the ball but ends up hitting it in the hands of Mukesh Choudhary!! This is a big wicket for Chennai. MI: 47/4 after 7.3 overs

Suryakumar Yadav counterattacks and seem in the mood today! What a shot! This is full on off and Yadav gets low quickly and sweeps it over deep backward square leg for a maximum. MI: 42/3 after 6 overs

Dropped! That should have been taken in the slips and should have been Mukesh Choudhary's 4th! Tilak Varma looks to push at it, this goes off the outside edge and into the hands of Bravo at widish first slip but he spills it. To add to that, it rolls away to the fence. MI: 29/3 after 4.1 overs

Mukesh Choudhary goes back of a length and it is angled across Brevis, around off. He looks to make room and hit it towards the off side. However, he just gets an outside edge and Dhoni takes a simple catch. Mumbai in serious trouble here! MI: 23/3 after 3 overs

It's all happening in the middle, as Dhoni misses a  stumping chance? A huge let off for Yadav! This is fuller, on the pads, Yadav looks to flick, this one dips right at the end, it sneaks under the bat but Dhoni fails to collect it. Towards the end of the over, Mitchell Santner bowls to Dewald Brevis and Jadeja puts down one he would take 9 times out of 10. He was probably worried about the man running in from long off. MI: 14/2 after 3 overs

Suryakumar Yadav with a fine shot to begin with! A boundary and a beautiful one to get off the mark! This is full and on middle, Yadav shows the full face of the bat and creams it past mid on and this one races away to the fence. The end of an action-packed first over here in Mumbai. MI: 6/1 after 1 over

THE SOUND OF TIMBER! Mukesh Choudhary is on fire and MI have lost both the openers fall for a duck! ! Kishan tried to flick and he is beaten all ends up. Mumbai in deep trouble in the first over itself. MI: 2/2 after 0.5 over

That is a simple catch for Mitchell Santner who is making a comeback into the side. What a start for Chennai and Mukesh Choudhary! This guy is making a habit of taking big wickets, got Kohli earlier on in the tournament and now Rohit. It seemed like the ball held on to the surface and that caused a problem for Rohit who looked to flick but is a touch early in the stroke. Rohit Sharma has the most ducks in IPL history (14). MI: 0/1 after 0.2 over

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan are at the crease. We are moments away from the live-action! Mukesh Choudhary to start with the ball for Chennai. Rohit Sharma is on strike. Let's Play...

Hrithik Shokeen is making his debut for MI today. He was praised during his time at NCA a few years ago. He is an off-spinner, who learned his trader under Tarak Sinha. Will be interesting to see if he can get some sharp turn tonight.

Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Hrithik Shokeen, Riley Meredith, Jaydev Unadkat, Jasprit Bumrah

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja(c), MS Dhoni(w), Dwaine Pretorius, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary

Chennai Super Kings have won the toss and have opted to field.

Mumbai Indians have two debutants. Rohit Sharma hands the cap to Hrithik Shokeen and Riley Meredith. Shokeen is a spinner and might replace Murugan Ashwin. 

- Mumbai have a 12-5 H2H record when winning the toss
- Chennai have lost ten of the last 13 H2Hs

Match number 33 sees Mumbai lock horns with Chennai. The two most successful teams in the history of the Indian T20 League will face each other this season for the first time.

Mumbai Indians face Chennai Super Kings in battle to save IPL elimination.

For Mumbai, the biggest concern is the form of skipper Rohit Sharma, who has gathered only 114 runs from six innings. If Mumbai have to chase or set up a big total, he will have to do the bulk of scoring.

"Everyone knows MI and CSK are the most successful teams. From the outside, it probably is the El Clasico of the IPL. Both teams are gonna come hard and it will be a good contest." - Unadkat builds up to the match

The 19-year-old Pathirana is called ‘Junior Lasith Malinga’ in the Sri Lanka cricketing circuit because of his slingy side-on action. Since 2020, the teenager has been a part of the CSK as a reserve player. 

The likes of Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav have played some scintillating knocks individually but together need to take responsibility in the middle-order. Another disappointment so far has been all-rounder Kieron Pollard, whose ability to win matches has been on the wane.

For Chennai, the biggest positive is Ruturaj Gaikwad finding his mojo back with a 48-ball 73 against Gujarat Titans. Robin Uthappa and Shivam Dube did shine in the team’s solitary win against Royal Challengers Bangalore with their brutal hitting but the duo faltered against Gujarat.

West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard on Wednesday announced his retirement from international cricket though he will continue to freelance in private T20 and T10 leagues across the globe.

Five-time champions Mumbai have not won a single match this season and a loss on Thursday would send them packing from the tournament. Defending champions CSK, who are just a rung above bottom-placed MI, have also faltered as a team though there has been a few instances of individual brilliance.

Traditional title rivals Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings face off in a battle to keep IPL 2022 hopes alive. Five-time champions Mumbai have not won a single match this season and a loss on Thursday would send them packing from the tournament. Defending champions CSK, who are just a rung above bottom-placed MI, have also faltered as a team though there has been a few instances of individual brilliance. With five losses from six games, a defeat on Thursday would also send them on the brink of elimination.