Records and milestones for MS Dhoni in third NZ ODI

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli and Dhoni put on 154 and 80 runs respectively (Image Courtesy: Rediff)

It was Virat Kohli who stole the limelight the third One-Day International against New Zealand at Mohali on Sunday but at the other end, it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was breaking records and reaching milestones.

Dhoni knew it was a big mistake letting New Zealand off the hook, letting them get past the 280 run mark. So when India came out to bat in pursuit of the challenging total, he promoted himself up the batting order.

Fans and supporters were taken aback when they saw Dhoni walking out into the middle of India in a spot of bother at 41/2. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane had opened the innings but both fell cheaply 13 and 5 respectively.

Dhoni knew if India had to pull it off they would need a big partnership and therefore chose to walk out and join the talismanic Kohli in the middle.

The skipper made his intentions clear right from the outset as he charged down to Tim Southee and pulled him through square leg to pick up his first boundary.

He continued with his aggression hammering fours and sixes which helped Kohli settle down as well. Whenever India were falling behind the required run-rate in it was Dhoni who had pulled them back in.

After a huge partnership of 151 runs Dhoni finally fell chipping one to extra cover but by then the work was almost done and Kohli finished it off in style.

En route to his 80 Dhoni had shattered a few records and reached a few milestones, here in this list we try and put each one of them.

#1 Breaking Sachin’s record of 195 sixes

MS Dhoni
Dhoni now has 196 sixes to his credit (Image Courtesy: WB News)

Going into the game Dhoni needed three sixes to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 195 over boundaries. Tendulkar did it in 463 matches but it took the Indian limited overs captain just 281 games to eclipse that.

Dhoni’s first strike into the stands was against Mitchell Santner as he danced down the track and hoiked the left-arm tweaker over long on.

His second big six too was against Santner. The spinner was once again guilty of letting Dhoni free his arms and the burly 35-year-old had no problems in lifting it into the crowd.

The third one for Dhoni was a pressure releasing shot. Jimmy Neesham had given away just three runs in the first four balls of the 27th over. Dhoni knew they could not just afford to let the over pass by without a boundary and therefore took a few steps down the strip and smashed Neesham’s delivery straight into the sight-screen. With the six Dhoni has now become No.1 in the list of Indians.

#2 Crossing 700 fours in international cricket

MS Dhoni
Dhoni now has 701 boundaries (Image Courtesy: Cricinfo)

Dhoni needed 5 fours in the game to get to 700 boundaries in international cricket. He did go one better and now has 701 hits to the ropes to his credit. He started off by chipping down the track and pulling Southee to the ropes.

His next was against Neesham as he hoiked the medium pacer over mid off. Though the ball did not quite come out from the middle of the willow, it raced across the turf in a flash.

Neesham was at the receiving end again as Dhoni pulled one of his short deliveries to the ropes bisecting the square leg and deep mid-wicket fielders. The hit also brought up the fifty partnership between him and Kohli in the game.

His fourth was a fierce cut against Matt Henry, one that whistled to the ropes at the speed of lightning and then his 700th was against Boult as he unleashed one more of his powerful pull shot to carve the left arm pacer to the deep mid wicket fence.

#3 Reaching 150 stumpings in cricket

Ronchi was Dhoni’s 151 stumpings (Image Courtesy: You Tube)

Dhoni was only one stumping away from having 150 in all forms of cricket when he started the game. He managed to touch the milestone as soon as he sent back Ross Taylor. It was Amit Mishra who tossed up the delivery which dipped too. Taylor was suckered into coming forward and flicking it but he missed the ball completely.

All Dhoni had to do was take the bails off and he did in a flash, in turn getting to the milestone. It was a similar delivery from Mishra which got rid of Luke Ronchi and this time too Dhoni was quick to whip the bails off.

Dhoni now has 99 more stumpings than second placed Indian skipper Nayan Mongia.

#4 Captain with most number of sixes in ODIs

Dhoni now has 125 sixes as captain (Image Courtesy: Cricket Empire)

Dhoni was one hit away from Ricky Ponting's tally of most sixes as skipper in ODIs when he came into the crease. He equaled the record of Ponting’s 123 by launching Santner into the stands and then broke it up hitting the left-arm spinner another.

Dhoni later struck another against Jimmy Neesham to now sit pretty on 125 sixes as ODI captain. By the time he was done hitting and hoiking in the game, India were very close to the win. His dismissal was a tame one as he chipped the ball straight to the fielder at extra cover.

#5 9000+ runs in ODI cricket

Dhoni became the third wicket-keeper batsman to reach 9000 runs (Image Courtesy: BCCI)

Dhoni on Sunday also became the third wicketkeeper-batsman to reach 9000 ODI runs. The skipper known for his big hitting abilities reached the milestone with a huge six off the fifth ball of the 17th over which was being bowled by left-arm tweaker Mitchell Santner.

He has now joined an elite group of wicket-keeper batsman which includes former Sri Lankan captain e averages Kumar Sangakkara and ex-Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist

He is also the fifth Indian to get past the milestone, after Mohammad Azharuddin (9378), Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Sourav Ganguly (11,363) and Rahul Dravid (10,889). He is also the only player to have got to the milestone with an average of above 50. For the record, he averages 51.17. He also has 4876 Test runs and 1112 T20s to go alongside his ODI runs.

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Edited by Staff Editor