IPL 2020: Twitter reacts to controversial umpiring decision involving MS Dhoni during CSK's 20-run win over SRH
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) threw up a surprise at the top of the order by opening with Sam Curran, as they beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 20 runs in Match 29 of IPL 2020.
The win takes CSK to sixth place, level on points with SRH and Rajasthan Royals, who are at 5th and 7th respectively.
Earlier in the day, MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat for the first time in the tournament so far. That would not be the only first from CSK’s point of view, however. Faf du Plessis was accompanied out to the middle by 22-year-old Sam Curran instead of regular opening partner, Shane Watson.
Although Du Plessis was dismissed for a first-ball duck, the decision to open with Curran reaped the rewards as a quick 21-ball 31 got CSK going right at the start. An 81-run partnership between Watson and Ambati Rayudu then steadied the ship for the Super Kings, and set the stage for a couple of cameos from skipper MS Dhoni (21 off 13) and the experienced Ravindra Jadeja (25* off 10).
The Sunrisers did not have the brightest of starts to their innings either. Curran and Jadeja followed up their heroics with the ball by picking up the wickets of arguably the most dangerous batsmen in the SRH line-up, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow.
Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson then forged partnerships alongside Priyam Garg and Vijay Shankar as he scored a 39-ball 57 before he found Shardul Thakur in the deep off the bowling of Karn Sharma.
The half-century would go in vain as the end of a quickfire cameo from Rashid Khan (14 off 8) proved to be the final nail in the coffin when the Afghan leg-spinner knocked his own off-stump back while attempting to clear the boundary off Thakur’s bowling.
The chase would then fizzle out with a couple of extremely economical overs in the end from Thakur and West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, and CSK registered a comfortable 20-run victory over SRH. Jadeja’s unbeaten towards the back end of the CSK innings, along with the wicket of Bairstow, earned him the Man of the Match award.
A particularly controversial moment in the game, however, would be umpire Paul Reiffel’s decision to pull out of a ‘wide’ decision after Dhoni reacted angrily as he was about to stretch his arms out. Twitter users, as always, had a lot to say about the incident and the match in general, and we’ve got some of the best reactions right here -