Vijay Hazare Trophy: Dhoni’s stormy hundred rescues Jharkhand from disaster

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Dhoni scored 129 runs in just 107 balls at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Image Source: XtraTime

Internet Desk: Former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni continued his good run with the bat in the current year as he scored his 17th List A century and first for Jharkhand against Chhattisgarh in Vijay Hazare Trophy, at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.

Jharkhand captain played a gem of an innings of 129 runs in just 107 balls, which helped Jharkhand to post 243/9 in 50 overs. He smashed 10 fours and six huge sixes during his play.

Chhattisgarh won the toss and sent Jharkhand to bat first. Dhoni’s team started poorly as they reduced to 57/6 in the 20th over of the game. After that Dhoni and Shahbaz Nadeem held the innings together to rescue their team from trouble.

Dhoni, who came in at No.6, added 151 runs with Nadeem for the seventh wicket. Nadeem also played an important knock of 53 runs from 90 deliveries.

On the opening day of the tournament on Saturday, Dhoni scored 43 runs for his side, but it went in vain as Jharkhand faced a narrow defeat against Karnataka.

The 35-year-old has enjoyed a good run-of-form after stepping down as India’s limited-overs captain in January.

After leaving India’s captaincy, Dhoni struck his first ODI ton since 2013, against England in a three-match rubber. He scored his 10th ODI century during the second match against England in Cuttack.

After that during a three-match Twenty20 International series against the same opponents, he slammed his maiden fifty in the format in his 76-match career.

However, it has been a topsy turvey year for MS Dhoni. After leaving the national team’s captaincy, he was removed from Rising Pune Supergiants captain’s post for the upcoming 10th season of the Indian Premier League, and Australia’s Steve Smith was named as the skipper for the season.