MS Dhoni became the fist person to play 200 matches in the Indian Premier League during Chennai Super Kings' match against Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. After the end of the match, MS Dhoni gave his 200th IPL jersey to Jos Buttler, who won the Man of the Match for his attacking 70* that gave Rajasthan Royals a brilliant seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings. The loss not only spoilt MS Dhoni's achievement but has put Chennai Super Kings in trouble of not qualifying for the play-offs.
MS Dhoni had created history even before the start of the match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. MS Dhoni was playing in his 200th IPL match and it made him the first player to ever achieve this feat. During the match, he also took a stunning one-handed catch of Sanju Samson that left the internet in awe. It was also his 150th dismissal in the IPL. However, that was as good as it got for MS Dhoni and the Chennai Super Kings as they lost the match to Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets. This was their seventh loss in 10 games and it has put them virtually out of the play-off race although mathematically, they are still in it. However, for one Rajasthan Royals player, there was a magnificent moment which summed up the beauty of MS Dhoni and his allure as a cricketing legend.
Following the end of the match, Jos Buttler, who won the Player of the Match award for his brilliant knock of 70, received MS Dhoni's 200th IPL jersey and it was put out on social media. The official Twitter handle of the Rajasthan Royals franchise tagged the post of Buttler holding Dhoni's jersey as, "Holding No. 7, while on cloud 9."
Speaking after the end of the match, Buttler remarked that he is happy batting at No.5. "Nice to get a win on the board tonight. I tried to come out with some intensity in my batting. I didn't think I had enough last game, and I decided to take a few more options tonight, and it came off. You have to keep trusting yourself and particularly when there's no scoreboard pressure, you can play yourself in and let cut loose in the end. I'm happy (batting at number 5) to do whatever the team needs to me do. This is my role for now," Buttler said.
Difficult wicket
Rajasthan Royals had won their first two games in Sharjah and after that, they suffered a losing streak. However, they have bounced back in style with two more wins and they are now in the fifth spot. Steve Smith, the Rajasthan Royals skipper, remarked that the wicket was not easy to bat on as the ball was stopping a lot.
"Sharjah is a little different from here. The wicket was stopping, not the best for batting, and good to be on the winning side. I thought we bowled well in the powerplay. The spinners bowled good lengths, with the googlies and leggies, building a lot of pressure. Tewatia and Shreyas have been sensational for us. Buttler took the pressure off me. I just knocked it around, and he just batted the way he usually does. He always maintains a good strike-rate. I didn't know I'd nicked the ball (LBW call), but I was relieved to see that I had," Smith remarked.
Rajasthan Royals will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in a crucial must-win game in Dubai on Friday as a loss for either team will dent their chances of reaching the play-offs.
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