Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming heaped praise on MS Dhoni’s blitz against Delhi Capitals and said that the former skipper was playing with the net run-rate in mind on Sunday, March 31. Dhoni played a scintillating knock of 37 from 16 deliveries and it consisted of 4 boundaries and 3 massive sixes. While the knock wasn’t enough to get CSK the win, the fans were certainly thrilled with knock from Dhoni.
CSK ended up losing the match by 20 runs, but the margin of the defeat looked destined to be bigger at one point. Fleming, during the post-match press conference, hailed the knock from Dhoni as beautiful and had praise for his one-handed six.
The CSK coach said that Dhoni has been rehabbing well after his serious operation to his knee and had been well during pre-season.
“It was beautiful, wasn’t it? And even the one-handed one the one over midwicket. He has been playing incredibly well in preseason. He’s coming back from a quite serious operation. So he’s rehabbing really well,” said Fleming.
DC vs CSK, IPL 2024 Highlights | Scorecard
Dhoni’s knock gave us a bit of positive vibe: Fleming
Fleming went on to say that the knock from Dhoni helped them sign off on a positive note on Sunday. The CSK coach said that Dhoni played with the net run-rate in mind.
“But his batting has been superb. And, that type of performance, just gave us a bit of a positive vibe to the end of a tough day. So to get within 20 is important run-rate wise, and he knows that. And the way he played was, was with that in mind, and it was spectacular,” said Fleming.
How important was Dhoni’s knock for CSK’s net run-rate?
Dhoni had come in to bat after the CSK run-chase had lost all its steam. The former CSK skipper came into bat with his side needing 72 runs from just 23 deliveries. He started to attack the bowlers from the get-go and played some delightful shots in the end.
IPL 2024 Points Table and Standings
This meant that CSK’s net run-rate remained positive despite the loss and they remain in second place in the points table behind KKR.
