MS Dhoni loses his cool after Matheesha Pathirana gets in way of his throw during CSK vs RR match

MS Dhoni & Matheesha Pathirana (Source: Twitter)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fell from the top spot to the third spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 points table after suffering a 32-run defeat against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday, April 27. Chasing a mammoth total of 203, the RR bowlers restricted CSK to 170-6 to register their second win against the four-time champions this season. Royals had, earlier, beat CSK by 3 runs in a thriller at the Chepauk Stadium, and they repeated the feat yesterday at their home ground in Jaipur.

After opting to bat first, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler got RR off to a flying start, scoring 64 runs in the powerplay. Jaiswal got dismissed for 77 runs off 43 balls in the 14th over but set the stage for the hosts. When the first-wicket partnership looked threatened, Ravindra Jadeja gave the visitors a breakthrough by dismissing Buttler in the ninth over.

The duo put on an 86-run stand before the right-hander got out for 27 runs off 21 balls. CSK made a comeback in the middle overs by removing the dangerous Jaiswal and skipper Sanju Samson in quick succession. They even had a chance to get another wicket in the 16th over if CSK pacer Matheesha Pathirana hadn't stepped in the way of MS Dhoni's throw.

Hetmyer failed to time a pull shot and Dhoni, behind the stumps, quickly collected the ball and aimed it towards the stumps at the non-striker's end. However, Pathirana got in the way of the throw, causing the ball to slow down for Hetmyer to enter the crease. The CSK skipper wasn't happy with the Sri Lankan youngster as he made animated gestures, which we rarely see from Dhoni.

Here's how fans reacted to MS Dhoni getting angry at Sri Lankan pacer:

Dhoni Very Angry Today.... #MSDhoni #Dhoni #RRvsCSK #CSKvsRR #CSKvRR pic.twitter.com/VDidsGnkg4

— Vishwajit Patil (@_VishwajitPatil) April 27, 2023

We gave too many in the first six: Dhoni after their defeat

CSK failed to capitalise on their powerplay while chasing as the RR bowlers were excellent in the first six overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad gave a decent start but he did not get support from other batters. Dube scored his third century of the season, but it wasn’t enough to get them over the finish line.

Speaking after their third defeat of the tournament, Dhoni said: “It (target) was quite a bit above par. The reason was the first six overs; we gave too many in the first six. At the same time, the wicket was best to bat on at that period. Even when we were finishing, quite a (few) edges went for boundaries. They got par+ score, and we were not able to get a good start in the first six overs.”