MS Dhoni was at his vintage best against Delhi Capitals as he scored 18 runs off just six deliveries in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 Qualifier 1 to send Chennai Super Kings into their ninth final. In the match, Dhoni came ahead of an in-form Ravindra Jadeja with CSK needing 24 runs off 11 deliveries. He hit Avesh Khan for a six over mid-wicket off the second delivery that he faced and then smashed three boundaries in the last over to take CSK over the line with two balls to spare. After the match, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said that MS Dhoni had "that look in his eyes" and he wasn't going to hold the skipper back.
"I'll tell you what, when the captain gets that look in his eyes and says that I'll go, it's been well documented that he has done that, and today was one of those. So, I ain't holding him back and we saw the result of that," Fleming said at the post-match press conference.
Fleming said before going to bat, Dhoni had a long technical discussion with him.
"There was a lot of chat. I think we spoke more in these 20 overs than we have for a long time. Just a lot of technical discussion, maneuvering how to work out how it was going to unfold," Fleming added.
In the match, CSK had won the toss and invited Delhi Capitals to bat at the Dubai International Stadium.
Half-centuries from Prithvi Shaw and captain Rishabh Pant took them to a competitive total of 172/5.
In reply, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa shared a 110-run stand before Dhoni walked out to finish off the game.