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MS Dhoni recently became the seventh batter in the IPL to score over 5000 runs in the tournament's history. He has now scored 5004 runs in 208 innings at an average of 39.09 and a strike rate of 135.53, with 24 half-centuries to his name.
His numbers are incredible for a finisher who has played most of his IPL matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
MS Dhoni-led CSK will be up against the Rajasthan Royals in the 17th match of the season at the Chepauk. Both teams have won two out of three matches, and it will be interesting to see who trumps the other in this encounter.
Dhoni has scored 521 runs in 23 innings at an average of 40.02 and a strike rate of 127.07 against the Royals in the Indian Premier League. While the raw numbers do not look very impressive, he has played some high-impact knocks against the Rajasthan-based franchise. Here's a look at his 3 best knocks against RR.
#1 75*(46), Chepauk 2019
Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field first. They took three early wickets, ensuring that Dhoni walked out to bat in just the fifth over of the innings, when only 27 runs were on the scoreboard. The skipper had to rebuild the entire innings to bring his team back into the game.
Dhoni stitched up a crucial 61 run partnership with Suresh Raina (36 off 32 balls). He was watchful till the 17th over of the innings, while Dwayne Bravo (27 off 16 balls) scored runs at a brisk pace. He scored 40 runs off the first 35 balls and 35 runs in the last 11, propelling the team to 175/5. CSK won the match by just eight runs.
#2 41*(19), Sawai Man Singh 2011
RR won the toss and put CSK into bat first on their home turf. All the Chennai batters had a field day as they posted 196/3 in the first innings. Mike Hussey (46 off 30 balls) and Murali Vijay (53 runs off 40 balls) gave the team a solid start.
Raina (43 off 27 balls) batted brilliantly, but the World Cup-winning skipper was the pick of the batters. He scored at a strike rate of 215.78, hitting 3 fours and 3 sixes in his brief stay at the crease. CSK carried the momentum into the 2nd innings, winning the game by 63 runs.
#3 58(43), Sawai Man Singh 2019
CSK won the toss and elected to field first. Although no batter scored more than 30 runs, the hosts scored a competitive 151/7 on a wicket that had some help for the spinners. Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers for a spell of 2/20 in four overs.
In response, Chennai lost four wickets in the powerplay with just 24 runs on the board. This meant that Dhoni and Rayudu had to do all the heavy lifting if they had any hopes of winning the game. They had a crucial 95-run partnership for the fifth wicket, which brought them back into the game.
Dhoni brought up his 50 in 39 balls in the 19th over of the innings. He worked hard for his runs, which proved to be extremely valuable in the context of the run chase. However, he was dismissed with another eight runs needed off three balls. A little cameo from Mitchell Santner ensured a four-wicket victory for the Super Kings.
