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Asia Cup 2018: MS Dhoni leads celebration as Rayudu gets ‘cake-smashed’

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByHT Correspondent
Sep 24, 2018 10:40 AM IST

Already in a joyous mood after a thrashing 9-wicket win, the Indian boys celebrated Ambati Rayudu’s birthday in style and the man who led the show was none other than MSD.

MS Dhoni might be the unofficial vice-captain on the field, but he is undoubtedly the official prankster off it and that was on display again after India’s crushing win over Pakistan in their Super Four encounter in Dubai on Sunday. Already in a joyous mood after a thrashing 9-wicket win, the Indian boys celebrated Ambati Rayudu’s birthday in style and the man who led the show was none other than MSD.

Taking to Instagram, the Indian cricket team posted a couple of photos which showed Dhoni leading the charge when it came to smearing Rayudu’s face with the birthday cake. The caption read: “Happy Birthday @a.t.rayudu

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What followed was a typical cake smash #TeamIndia style 😎 🎂”

 

Earlier, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan scored brilliant centuries as India defeated Pakistan by nine wickets. Dhawan (114) and Rohit (111) made short work of the 238-run target to help India almost secure a spot in the final.

The win is India’s biggest against Pakistan in terms of wickets, improving on the eight-wicket win in Melbourne in 1985. Both the Indian openers have been in tremendous form in the tournament and it was no different on Sunday as they dominated the Pakistan bowlers. The partnership of 210 runs also broke the record for the highest opening stand for India against Pakistan in ODIs.

Pakistan had a great chance to dismiss Rohit in the sixth over but Imam-ul-Haq dropped an easy catch off Shaheen Afridi to hand a lifeline to the Indian skipper. From that moment, there was no turning back as the right-hander dominated proceedings and during the course of his brilliant innings, he became the ninth Indian batsman to complete 7,000 one-day runs in his 187th match, when he reached 94.

Dhawan’s 50 came off 56 balls with a pulled boundary while Rohit took 65 balls to reach the milestone. Rohit and Dhawan both kept attacking the bowlers and at one point, it became a sort of race between the batsmen to see who reaches their century first. Dhawan was the eventual winner as he reached his 15th hundred and celebrated it with a huge six and a boundary before getting run-out for 114.

Rohit, however, was not affected by the fall of the wicket and he had no problems in completing his 19th century. The impressive innings comprised of seven fours and four sixes and thanks to his solid knock, India were able to cruise to a well-deserved victory with 10.3 overs remaining in the encounter.

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