The craze for former Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni was again palpable as he received thunderous applause while walking out to bat during the IPL 2024 clash against Kolkata Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday, April 8.
Dhoni walked out to bat at No.5 after Shivam Dube’s dismissal at 135/3. At that point, CSK was required three runs off 3.5 overs to achieve 138-run target. As soon as MS Dhoni strode out to bat, the Chennai crowd went berserk and gave a rousing reception to the ‘Thala’ and chanting his name in high intensity. The broadcaster of the tournament showed that the crowd's noise when Dhoni walked out to bat was 125 Db.
The applause and cheers for MS Dhoni were so loud that it forced Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Andre Russell to close his ears. In a viral video, Russell was standing near the boundary when he covered his quickly to block out the deafening cheers from the crowd for the Former CSK skipper.
In the Chennai Super Kings' last match against SunRisers Hyderabad, MS Dhoni received a similar reception from the Hyderabad crowd while walking out to bat with just balls to play in the final over of the first innings. As soon as Dhoni stepped in to bat, the crowd went crazy, erupting into rousing cheers and applause that echoed throughout the stadium.
Ruturaj Gaikwad shines with fifty as CSK beat KKR
Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings bounced back from two consecutive losses with their third victory of the ongoing IPL season with a seven wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders.
With a target of 138, CSK chased it down with 2.2 overs to spare. Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad led the batting from front as he scored an unbeaten 68 off 57 balls at a decent strike rate of 115.52. Gaikwad played a calculated innings on spinning track.
Shivam Dube (28) and Daryll Mitchell (25) too contributed to Chennai Super Kings' run-chase, while MS Dhoni unbeaten on 1.
For Kolkata Knight Riders, skipper Shreyas Iyer was the top-scorer with 34 off 32 balls while Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored 27 and 24, respectively. Only batters managed to score above 20 runs while posting a total of 137/9 in 20 overs.
In bowling, Vaibhav Arora led the attack as he scalped two wickets while conceding 28 runs in four overs. Spinner Sunil Narine picked two wickets.
With third win of the season, Chennai Super Kings moved to third spot with six points while Kolkata Knight Riders are at the second position with six points on the points table.
