Delhi Capitals (DC) coach Ricky Ponting lauded Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain, MS Dhoni, as one of the greatest finishers the game has ever seen after his heroics in the first qualifier of the IPL 2021, as his 18* in 6 balls enabled CSK to make it into the finals of the tournament.
DC had batted first and thanks to half-centuries from Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant, put on 172/5 in 20 overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad (70) and Robin Uthappa (63) led the charge in the chase for CSK before the DC bowlers pulled it back with Tom Curran picking 3 wickets.
In the end, 24 runs were needed from the last 12 balls and MS Dhoni slammed one six off Avesh Khan and hit Tom Curran, who bowled the last over defending 13 runs for three fours in the over to win the match and put CSK into their ninth IPL final.
Lauding the CSK captain at the end of the match, DC head coach Ricky Ponting said: "Yeah, look, he (Dhoni) (has) been one of the greats. It was a situation tonight, we were sitting back in the dugout and thinking, will (Ravindra) Jadeja come next, will Dhoni come next and I put up my hand up straight away and said Dhoni will come out now and try (and) ice the game."
“Look, I think when he is done and when he's retired, I think he'll definitely be remembered as one of the great finishers the game has ever seen,” Ponting added.
Dhoni’s CSK will now face the winner of the second qualifier match on October 15 in Dubai.
(PTI inputs)
