SA v IND 2018: MS Dhoni’s 43-ball 42 in Johannesburg ODI bagged mixed reactions from fans

India lost the fourth ODI against South Africa at Wanderers by 5 wickets.

MS Dhoni scored an unbeaten 42 in a losing cause for India at Johannesburg. (HT Media)

Former India captain MS Dhoni’s batting approach often becomes the talk of the town as certain section of cricket lovers admire his zeal to fight it out in the middle while a different group criticizes him for being too circumspect.

During the fourth match of the ongoing six-match ODI series against South Africa at Wanderers, Dhoni played a vital 42-run knock off 43 balls which propelled India to a highly competitive total of 289 for 7 in 50 overs. However, the fans like always had differences in opinion with regards to Dhoni’s innings.

 While some blamed the Ranchi dazzler for not taking the score beyond 300, others appreciated the India wicketkeeper batsman for holding the one end amidst the middle order collapse. It is worth mentioning here that India lost the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane (8 off 15 balls), Shreyas Iyer (18 off 21 balls) and Hardik Pandya (9 off 13 balls) after a herculean 158-run stand for the second wicket between Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Virat Kohli.

Here are some of the tweets praising and criticizing Dhoni’s knock:

India didn’t experience the best of start in the fourth ODI as Rohit Sharma perished for only 5 to Kagiso Rabada. However, Dhawan was determined to make it count on this occasion. The southpaw struck his 13th ODI ton which led the foundation for a competitive total.

The rain-break during South Africa’s innings though meant that the revised target for the hosts is 202 in 28 overs. Owing to Heinrich Klaasen’s 27-ball 43 and David Miller’s 28-ball 29, South Africa sealed the deal with 15 balls to spare and 5 wickets in hand.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 11 Feb, 2018

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