So, it is a 6 in 8 for Chennai Super Kings while 2 in 8 for Delhi Daredevils. In between those numbers, there is six positions difference between CSK and DD. With the win tonight, the men in yellow are almost confirmed for the playoff stage while Daredevils made themselves to breathe hard by succumbing to yet another failure in the tourney.
Earlier, in the match, it was Shreyas Iyer who called it right in the toss and asked the home side to put on a total on the board. Justifying the toss, Trent Boult bowled a stunner to get Shane Watson in front of the wickets but the unfortunate error from umpire changed the fortunes of DD as the Australian smoked the ball to all corners of the park with ease.
The onslaught from CSK batsmen:
The South African, Faf du Plessis who made a comeback to the side looked rusty to get himself going but ensured to rotate the strike to in-form Watson (78). However, Faf vows came to an end when he mistimed Shankar’s length delivery to a long-off region. Suresh Raina who was expected to take a flashy scoring role was outsmarted by Maxwell dipping delivery.
However, it was MS Dhoni again who came to the party by smacking Delhi bowlers all over the park. First, he took the world-class, Trent Boult to the cleaners, later, punished Mishra and Plunkett to carry the impetus. He stood tall till the end to ensure a massive total on the board. He finished his innings with 51 runs in his kitty which is his 2nd fastest IPL fifty of his career. Rayudu was at his usual best who scored 41 runs off 24 balls.
Heroic chase but short of 13 runs:
In reply to the CSK’s massive total, Delhi Daredevils got the initial jolt in the name of Prithvi Shaw. However, Colin Munro looked like taking the onus on him but failed to carry-on with the start.
The in-form skipper, Shreyas Iyer was unfortunate to be dismissed in a run-out fashion and the big man, Maxwell once again disappointed the team. However, when the things looked bleak, Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar slowly repaired the ship to show a winning way.
Rishabh Pant, in particular, smoked the ball often than not but, the run-rate was never in control thus being on the wrong side of the things. Vijay Shankar too showed his worth in the end by taking down Dwayne Bravo to the cleaners but unfortunately, remained away from the victory by a margin of 13 runs.
However, the win ensured Chennai Super Kings to be back on the top of the points table with 12 points to their name while Delhi Daredevils stationed at bottom of the table with 4 points in their kitty.