The 'finisher' MS Dhoni couldn't deliver with the bat as Royal Challengers Bengaluru came up against Chennai Super Kings in the virtual knockout match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Saturday. Dhoni, up against RCB's Yash Dayal, needed to help CSK get 17 runs from the last over. The veteran wicket-keeper batter started on the brightest note possible, hitting the first ball of the 20th over for a six, leaving just 11 runs to be scored from the final 5 balls. However, Dhoni's six did more damage to CSK than RCB, as revealed by Dinesh Karthik after the conclusion of the match.
Karthik, in a video shared by RCB on social media, explained that Dhoni's humungous six resulted in the ball getting lost, prompting the officials to hand the Bengaluru side a new one.
"MS Dhoni hitting that 110M six outside the Chinnaswamy was the best thing that happened, it gave us a new ball which helped us," Karthik said in the video.
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“We have within our grasp, to do something, where people will remember us for many many decades. They'll say wow, that RCB team was special.” #PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 #RCBvCSK pic.twitter.com/nmcuz1JeQB
Even Virat Kohli admitted that the new ball made a big difference for RCB, with his reaction to Karthik's comment confirming that.
With the dew playing its role, the old ball had gotten pretty wet because of the conditions in the ground but Dayal found better control on the new ball that was given to him by the officials.
On the second delivery of the over, Dayal got Dhoni out, getting him caught by Swapnil Singh. That was it for CSK who didn't have the required firepower in the middle with Dhoni's dismissal.
On the next four deliveries, Dayal delivered dot, one, dot and dot to help RCB secure a 27-run victory and qualify for the playoffs. CSK, on the other hand, were knocked out.