Veteran Australia pacer Brett Lee hailed Sandeep Sharma for his last-over heroics with the ball against Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League 2023 match on Wednesday. Sharma managed to defend 21 runs off the final over against CSK top finishers MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. Chennai Super Kings needed five runs on the final ball with their skipper Dhoni on strike and Sandeep delivered a perfect yorker to stop him from hitting a big shot.
Chasing a 176-run target, CSK finished proceedings at 172/6 with Dhoni staying unbeaten on a 17-ball 32. Dhoni, who was leading CSK for the 200th time in the IPL, hit three sixes and a boundary, while Jadeja, the other unbeaten batter, scored a 15-ball 25.
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Royals’ third win in four games took them to the top of the points table. They have six points, the same as the Lucknow Super Giants, but are ahead on the basis of the net run rate. CSK, on the other hand, lie in fifth place with two wins and an equal number of losses.
It was not an ideal start from Sandeep in the last over as he started with a couple of wide balls but bounced back well to help his team register a crucial win at Chepauk Stadium.
Lee was highly impressed with Sandeep’s bowling and said that bowling to Dhoni with a wet ball with the home team supporting their skipper to finish the game was extremely tough but the RR pacer managed to do it.
“I like what he said in his post-match interview about how bowling over the wicket wasn’t working, so he came around the wicket. But you’re right. It’s right within his arc, that sweet spot, and if he missed it by an inch, it would have gone for six. Full credit to Sandeep Sharma, bowling with a wet ball to MS Dhoni who is on fire, they’ve got the whole crowd against them. He closed out the game under pressure and that is absolutely hats off to him to win by three runs,” said JioCinema IPL expert Brett Lee in praise of Sandeep.
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Apart from Lee, former India pacer RP Singh was also impressed by Sharma’s final-over execution, especially after the poor start he got off to in it.
“It started with two wides and then a dot ball, and then we got to see two sixes as well. When the sixes were hit, pressure was bound to catch up. At that time, you had to back yourself.
We have heard the same thing from Dhoni that he will capitalize on every mistake a bowler makes and punish him with a six. He always puts that pressure on the bowler, so imagine the mental state Sandeep Sharma was in. He knew that this batter will hit sixes if I make even the smallest mistake. Executing it the way he did is something that should be recognized,” said Singh.
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Meanwhile, legendary spinner Anil Kumble was elated to see Dhoni turning back the clock to take the game closer against the Royals.
“I thought it was the perfect script for MS Dhoni there. In his 200th match as the captain of CSK. He was there for the last ball with six needed. If it was two or three inches slightly shorter, I think he would’ve done it. It was the perfect script. It was wonderful to see someone like MS Dhoni do it even now,” said Kumble.
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