Johannesburg, Apr 16 (IANS): Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis hailed M.S. Dhoni for the number of times he has managed to provide the finishing touch to a match. Du Plessis, who primarily plays as an opener for Chennai Super Kings and has been an integral part of the side's success over many years, said that Dhoni's innings last year against Royal Challengers Bangalore shows his ability.
"MS Dhoni has been, obviously, part of the team since the beginning but I see him as the best finisher in the game. To have been on the field and in the side for so many years and to have just seen him construct innings together and how he has finished games," the former South African ODI captain said in a video tweeted by CSK.
"Last year against RCB. I think we were 60-6 or 7 and basically we should be bowled out for 90. He was in at the moment and absorbed pressure very well. Then he started hitting more and more sixes. The sixes he was hitting was out of the stadium. He ended up getting 87 off 40-odd balls (sic).
"I think it was 26 required off the last over and after the game, we were like what just happened," said Du Plessis. CSK were chasing a target of 162 and lost their first four wickets within the powerplay overs. The innings was reinvigorated when Dhoni, assisted for a time by Ambati Rayudu, started sending the ball out of the park. However, despite Dhoni's unbeaten 84 off 48 balls, CSK lost the match by one run.
Du Plessis mentioned Dhoni's innings while talking about his favourite knocks by CSK batsmen. "2013, Suresh Raina scored a hundred against Kings XI Punjab that won us the game on its own. Fast forward to 2018, Dwayne Bravo against Mumbai Indians. We were completely out of the game, he came in at number 7 or 8 and got 67 or 70 off 40-odd balls. The game -- how we won it, I still don't know," he said.
Bravo smashed 68 off 30 balls to take CSK from 75/5 in 12 overs to successfully chasing a target of 166 with one wicket and a ball in hand. Du Plessis also recalled Shane Watson's knocks in the 2018 and 2019 finals.