"You're bowling at MS Dhoni, and there's not one red shirt in the crowd" - Rabada on Rishi Dhawan's nerve-wracking final over
Kagiso Rabada showered praise on teammate Rishi Dhawan, who bowled a terrific 20th over to defend 27 runs with MS Dhoni at the striker's end. In the process, Punjab Kings (PBKS) returned to winning ways, beating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 11 runs in an IPL 2022 game on Monday.
Returning to the IPL fold after six years, Dhawan did exceedingly well with the ball. Bowling against an intimidating character like Dhoni in the final over was a daunting task. Add to that the sea of CSK supporters chanting their favourite star's name that only ramped up the pressure.
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Rishi Dhawan is playing his first IPL game in 6 years 🏏
The pacer has already picked a crucial wicket of Shivam Dube to help PBKS’ cause against CSK 🙌🏻
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However, Dhawan held his nerves against arguably the greatest finisher in modern-day cricket. At the end of the game, Rabada said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo:
"Rishi, coming back and bowling that final over. He put his hand up. I don't know if I've left anyone out. It's still a bit nerve-wracking when you're bowling at MS Dhoni, and there's not one red shirt in the crowd, only yellow shirts chanting his name, but he held his nerve and came out on top. Huge credit to him."
Meanwhile, it was Rabada and Arshdeep Singh who set up the game for Punjab in the death overs. The left-arm pacer gave away only six and eight runs respectively in the 17th and 19th overs, while Rabada conceded six in the 18th. That left Dhawan to defend 27 in the final over, which he did successfully.
The 26-year-old Rabada lauded Singh, saying he has been the best death bowler in IPL 2022.
"Arsh (Arshdeep) has been the best death bowler in this comp; that's what the stats say. He's a youngster coming in, has got a lot of drive, a lot of ambition as well. And he's just a good bloke, so, it's nice to have him around. I always bowl at the death as well, so I know that, but Arsh has been magnificent; he's been leading the way in that discipline."
MS Dhoni did unleash his pyrotechnics, hitting a boundary and a six, but Dhawan had the last laugh as Chennai fell short by 11 runs.
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"The way Shikhar and Bhanu played was unbelievable" - Kagiso Rabada
Trust the process, always 🤗 What a great team win! Thank you for all your wishes 🙏 https://t.co/ReZVSnDlMs
Asked to bat first, Punjab Kings struggled to get going before Shikhar Dhawan shifted gears. Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who returned to the playing XI, also followed suit before Liam Livingstone's late flourish propelled PBKS to 187.
Dhawan remained unbeaten on 88 off 59 deliveries, while the Sri Lankan scored 42. Livingstone, meanwhile, remained unbeaten on 19 off seven deliveries, including a boundary and two sixes. Praising the batting unit, Rabada said:
"In the powerplay, we were a bit behind the rate. I must commend Shikhar and Mayank, the way they held their nerve and then the way Shikhar and Bhanu played was unbelievable. They set the platform for our batters to come in and play freely. Liam Livingstone came in and hit a few gentle strokes (laughs) out of the park, and that set up us nicely. That set us up nicely for a winning total."
With the victory, the Kings now have eight points after as many games and are sixth in the IPL standings.