The batsmen should now realise that leaving the crease when MS Dhoni is standing behind the crease is nothing less than a crime. Even a fraction of second is more than enough for the former India skipper to send back a batsman and James Neesham must have realised it after losing his wicket in the ongoing fifth ODI between India and New Zealand. MS Dhoni once again showed his street-smartness to put India firmly only on top.

The dismissal happened in the 37th over of the innings bowled by Kedar Jadhav. Trying to slog sweep a straighter delivery, Neesham failed to make contact whatsoever and the ball went on to hit him on the pads. Jadhav, Dhoni and others went up in unison but the umpire was not convinced. In the meantime, the ball went behind Dhoni and Neesham was wandering out of the crease for reasons known only to him.

But it was enough for Dhoni to do what he does best. He ran towards the ball, picked it up and fired a direct-hit to send back Neesham. The wicket has firmly put India in command of the game as New Zealand are now reeling 176 for 7 while chasing 253.

Here is a clip of the run-out:

https://twitter.com/premchoprafan/status/1091985006438875136?

Meanwhile, earlier in the game, an impressive 90-run knock from Ambati Rayudu and a whirlwind knock from Hardik Pandya helped India recover from a disastrous and post a respectable 252.

Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat first turned out to be a regrettable one early on with New Zealand bowlers all over India. Matt Henry gave the Kiwis the early breakthrough by castling Rohit Sharma before Boult accounted for Shikhar Dhawan to reduce India to 12 for 2. Highly-rated Shubman Gill failed to, scoring just 7 before Dhoni returned to the pavilion too with just 18 runs on the board. However, some fightback from Rayudu, Vijay Shankar and Pandya helped India post a challenging total.