Captain Cool comes to the rescue of Team India once again
Indore: Facing flak from ex-cricketers and fans alike MS Dhoni silenced them all with a match saving unbeaten 92. Electing to bat, Dhoni bailed India out of trouble with his 86-ball knock to take the team to 247 for nine. His bowlers then ended the visiting side’s innings at 225 to record their first win on South Africa’s current tour.
Going through the toughest phase of his international career, Dhoni played a captain’s knock and then made smart bowling changes to bundle out South Africa in 43.4 overs. The nudges, quick singles, shot-arm jabs, pulls, cuts, lofted shots over the bowlers’ heads – all were on full display as Dhoni answered his critics with a knock that was decorated with seven boundaries and four sixes.
‘Captain Cool’ batted with the tail-enders with a calm head as India scored 82 runs off the last 10 overs to put on board a decent total, which at one stage looked impossible. The 49th over proved the mettle of the skipper as after plaing five dot balls he finished it off with a trademark final ball six as if to show to his critics that he still has plenty left in the tank.
Up until the 40th over India looked all but out at 165 for seven in the 40th over, but Dhoni found great support from Harbhajan Singh (22), with whom he added 56 runs.
With both his frontline pacer proving ineffective, Dhoni introduced spin from both ends in the sixth over. The move yielded instant result when Axar had Amla stumped after the batsman danced down the wicket. The spin duo of Axar and Harbhajan bagged 5 wickets amongst them. The pacers too chipped in at the end with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bagging 3 wickets.
