"I was surprised…"- Lockie Ferguson reacts to MS Dhoni's viral leave against him during ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-final

Lockie Ferguson said that his plan was to see if MS Dhoni would undercut it.

New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson has reacted to the viral video of MS Dhoni leaving his delivery during the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The semi-final loss to New Zealand in the tournament was a heartbreaking moment for Indian fans, and some videos from the match are still popular on social media.

One such video is of Ferguson getting surprised after Dhoni left one of his deliveries in the match. The right-arm pacer bowled a short-pitched delivery towards the off side, which Dhoni intentionally left. Ferguson was surprised to see Dhoni leaving it, as India needed 52 runs off 31 balls at that stage.

Notably, Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja had kept India’s hopes alive to win the encounter during the 240-run chase. Dhoni scored a half-century in the match but lost his wicket in the penultimate over, getting run-out, which ended India’s hopes of winning the clash.

Lockie Ferguson reacts to viral video from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

During an interview with Crictracker, Ferguson reacted to the viral video. The Kiwi pace revealed that he planned to see if Dhoni would undercut it. He also added that Dhoni slammed a six over a similar delivery in his next over.

“I can’t remember what they were needing to chase at the time, but I knew they had to score a few runs. The plan was to bowl and see if MS would undercut it, and he left it. So I was surprised because naturally, when you’re bowling, you’re trying to restrict runs, then it’s nice when a batter leaves it,” he said.

“But I think the next over, the first ball, I tried again, and he just got it over the boundary for six. So the plan almost worked the second time as well. But it was nice to get him out that game and, of course, get across the line in the semi-final,” he added.

Talking about the match, the BlackCaps piled up 239/8 in the first innings, with half-centuries by Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. Due to rain, the second innings was played the next day, which was a reserve day.

With a deadly pace attack by Trent Boult and Matt Henry, India lost six wickets for just 92 runs during the chase. Later, Jadeja (77) and Dhoni (50) kept the winning hopes alive. However, India were bowled out for 221 runs in the end, losing the clash by 18 runs.

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