Australian batswoman Grace Harris has heaped praise on MS Dhoni, saying the former Indian skipper is a “fantastic finisher of the game” and she has been taking inspiration from him.
Harris on Sunday hammered 53 from 37 deliveries to help Brisbane Heat register a seven-wicket win over the Perth Scorchers on the opening day of the sixth edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
During their chase of 133, Harris started slowly, collecting 11 runs from her first 18 deliveries. However, just as the required run rate started to climb above seven in the 11th over, Harris — just like Dhoni — launched a brutal attack, hitting 39 runs from 18 balls to quickly bring the chase to heel, and while she departed with 10 runs required, Georgia Redmayne (37*) and Laura Harris (7*) were able to seal the win with three overs to spare at the North Sydney Oval.
“I’ve found it’s really just working for me, the game plan I’ve got. I can catch up, it doesn’t matter how many dot balls I have – it’s not ideal and you want to rotate the strike as much as possible – but in situations like today where I struggle early, it’s (about) remaining in a calm mindset,” Harris was quoted as saying after the match by cricket.com.au.
One of the @WBBL's most destructive batters is adding a new layer to her game, writes @JollyLauz18 #WBBL06 https://t.co/arxn5uUbSa
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 25, 2020
“I’ve been watching a lot of MS Dhoni’s innings really, I took a bit of inspiration from him. He’s a fantastic finisher of the game and he might get behind but at the end of the day, they win games and he’s ahead of the count,” she added.
Currently, Dhoni is leading Chennai Super Kings in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE. The three-time champions have registered just three wins in 11 matches and they are all but out of contention of making it to the playoffs.