#OTD in 2019 | MS Dhoni made his last International appearance for India

On this day in 2019, the legendary MS Dhoni played his last match for the Indian team. This fixture had also marked India’s exit from the ODI World Cup after losing to New Zealand in the semi-finals by 18 runs. 

Ahead of this game, Dhoni was in good touch and had garnered 223 runs in seven innings. His top contribution of 56* came against West Indies, wherein he guided the Indian team to a strong score of 268. 

On the other hand, the Indian team topped the league stage points table with seven victories in nine fixtures.

The persistent rain showers forced the crucial match to be played on reserve day (July 10). The Kane Williamson-led side won the toss and opted to post a big score on the board. 

The Indian bowlers started on a solid note and put the opposition under pressure with their proficient line and lengths. 

In the fourth over, Bumrah induced an edge of Martin Guptill (1), which was caught well by Virat Kohli at the slips. 

Williamson and Taylor steer the Kiwi team to a competitive total

Then, Williamson and Henry Nicholls were able to stitch a quality stand, which laid a robust platform for the Kiwi team. 

In the 19th over, Ravindra Jadeja successfully managed to get the ball past the defence of Nicholls (28), and New Zealand were at 69/2. 

Then, it was instead a slow-paced partnership between Williamson and Taylor. Nevertheless, the NZ skipper reached his fifty off 79 balls. 

 Afterwards, the experienced duo tried to enhance the net run rate to release the pressure and hit odd boundaries. However, Yuzvendra Chahal caught an edge of Williamson (67) to make him holed out to Jadeja at the point. At this point, the Kiwi team were at 134/3 in 36 overs. 

Taylor accelerated the run rate in the latter half of the innings and scored 74 off 90 balls. New Zealand posted 239 on the board, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets.  

India lose their key batters in the powerplay overs

In the second half, KL Rahul (1), Rohit Sharma (1), and Virat Kohli (1) were dismissed in quick succession by terrific spells from Matt Henry and Trent Boult. 

James Neesham plucked off a blinder at a point to send Dinesh Karthik (6) back the pavilion off Henry. 

Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya displayed strong composure to resurrect India’s innings. But they scored 32 each before getting holed out in their failed attempt to play a big shot. 

Heroics of MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja can’t pull off a victory for India

The all-rounder Jadeja displayed balls of steel to hit boundaries consistently, with the highlight being his two sixes off Mitchell Santner’s over. On the other hand, Dhoni played a quiet knock and attacked in the latter part of his innings. 

However, with 32 needed from 14, Jadeja (77 off 59) was holed out at silly mid-off, and Dhoni (50 off 72) was involved in an unfortunate run-out. 

The Indian team lost by 18 runs and could not seal its place in the Finals. Dhoni finished the World Cup campaign with 273 runs, averaging 45.50.  

The former skipper finished his ODI career with 10773 runs in 350 matches, comprising ten centuries.