MUMBAI: Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni created history on Wednesday night, by becoming the first player to score 5000 T20 runs as captain. He achieved this record after a blistering, match winning knock of 70 not out against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Dhoni took just 34 balls to get there at a strike rate of 205.88, finishing the match with a trademark six. He came at the crease when Chennai were in deep trouble at 74-4 at one stage, chasing a mammoth 206 to win. The captain played the finisher’s role perfectly after a long time, following Ambati Rayudu’s 53-ball 82 that set up a thrilling run-chase. Both of them shared a 101-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
“I thought when we had the innings break this was difficult to chase because when I was keeping, I felt AB batted well to get them to 200 runs and it was tough to score. I thought it was 15-20 beyond par score. The key for us was the two left-handers but we lost them early. Just had to hang around there. This is a small ground, ball travels and there was just a bit of dew and it worked in our favour. Rayudu batted really well. Got a very good partnership and then Bravo striking at the end, overall it went perfectly according to the script,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation.
With this win, Dhoni had more to celebrate as Chennai went on top of the points table as the tournament nears the half-way mark.
