Dhoni the finisher returns, but it's too late for Pune

Too little too late but MS Dhoni set the pulse racing once again on Saturday night. Dhoni hammered out 64 not out off just 32 balls with four 4s and five 6s in Pune's last gasp win over Punjab at Visakhapatnam. 

In this battle to avoid the IPL 2016 wooden spoon, India's World Cup winning captain - once the best finisher in the world - smashed sixes off the last two balls of the match win his Pune team the mother of dead rubbers, against fellow laggards Punjab.

With 23 needed in the final over, the result looked unlikely when Dhoni played out a dot to Axar Patel. Another dot resulted when MS was denied a certain boundary by a stupendously athletic Hashim Amla at long off. But the cool and calm chopper man hammered out 4,6 and 6 to close out the match, sealing the deal with genuine homage to his wristy trademark.

Such was the excitement that even a friendly neighborhood canine could not resist being part of the action.

Pune bowed out of IPL the second worst team of the season, but went out with with a bang, chasing down the 173-run target they were set by Kings XI Punjab, who finished last on the points table.