Defending champions Chennai Super Kings continued their winning streak by defeating the Delhi Capitals by six wickets at their home ground on Tuesday, thanks to a stupendous death overs bowling led by Dwayne Bravo and a brilliant start from Shane Watson. For the second time in the history of IPL, both the teams landed on the field with three foreign players, but the contribution of their foreign players was important in the victory of Chennai. Playing on their home ground for the first time after changing the name, Delhi Capitals won the toss and scored 147 for six, batting first, including the struggling half-century of opener Shikhar Dhawan (51 off 47 balls).
Ferozeshah Kotla’s pitch was not easy to score as the match progressed. In this situation, the partnership of 52 runs in four overs proved crucial for the second wicket of Shane Watson (44 runs from 26 balls, 4×4, 3×6) and Suresh Raina (30 from 16 balls, 4×4, 1×6). Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (32 not out off 35 balls) and Kedar Jadhav (27 off 34 balls) struggled to score runs, but the duo added 48 runs off 53 balls for the fourth wicket to help Chennai take 19.4. Won 150 runs for four wickets in the over.
Earlier, Bravo (three wickets for 33 runs in four overs) played an important role in bringing Chennai back. He took 17 runs in the first over, but later took three wickets, including Rishabh Pant (25 off 13 balls) and Dhawan, within six balls, failed Delhi’s death overs strategy. Ravindra Jadeja (one wicket for 23 runs in four overs) scored in the middle overs while Deepak Chahar (one wicket for 20 runs in four overs) kept the run pace in the middle overs.
Among the Delhi Capitals bowlers, Akshar Patel (16 runs in four overs) made the match exciting by bowling brilliantly in the middle overs. Amit Mishra (2 for 35 in four overs) was Delhi’s most successful bowler. Chennai’s win seemed easy, Delhi bowlers took it to the last over, which messed up their run rate. In the case of Magar, if Chennai is ahead, this slow batting can be expensive.
Both Watson and Raina showed their old colours on Kotla. Watson’s wrong timing on Kagiso Rabada (one for 26) was followed by a six-run pull behind the wicketkeeper but his sixes hit Mishra was visible on which the Delhi-based fan also applauded. Mishra, however, got him stumped out in this over.
Patel had dismissed Watson on five occasions earlier, but today this Australian batsman initially removed him from bowling by hitting two fours. Raina’s three fours on Ishant Sharma were excellent, but the catch was made after Mishra’s ball caught behind the wicket. Chennai needed to score at less than five runs per over but Patel and Chemo Paul and Rabada bowled it tightly in the middle overs to make it more than six runs an over. Patel conceded only seven runs in his last three overs.
Alam was the one who needed 51 runs in the last ten overs, Chennai scored 29 runs in the next seven overs, making them 22 runs in the last three overs. Mishra came for the 19th over and Dhoni hit a six over his head to settle the score. Bravo (four not out) hit the winning four.
Earlier, Dhawan held one end for 17 overs, but could not score as fast as expected and returned to the pavilion when the team needed him in the death overs. His innings included seven fours. Dhawan shared 36 runs for the first wicket with Prithvi Shaw (24 runs off 16 balls) and 41 runs for the third wicket with Pant. Delhi’s score was 118 for two wickets after 15 overs. Dhawan and Pant were at the crease and had a good chance to play long shots in the final five overs, but Chennai made a great comeback and conceded only 29 runs in these overs and took four wickets in the meantime.
Bravo, meanwhile, dismissed Pant and Dhawan in addition to Colin (02) within six balls. Shardul Thakur beautifully converted the shots played by both Pant and Dhawan into the air. Delhi had only two fours in the last five overs. At the start of Delhi’s innings, Shaw made some good shots. He hit three consecutive fours on Shardul Thakur and presented a good view of the lofted drive on the ball in place of Harbhajan Singh (30 runs in four overs). Captain Shreyas Iyer (18 runs off 20 balls) however struggled to score runs. Iyer hit Imran Tahir (one for 20 from two overs) for the first six of the innings but the same leg-spinner dismissed him lbw in the next over.
