As expected it was a bit of a sluggish wicket which had a lower bounce than expected. This actually acted as an advantage for the experienced Chennai side as they were batting second and they already knew the target.
After electing to bat first, Delhi looked good during the initial stages as the opening pair added 36 runs in four overs. They lost Prithvi Shaw for 24 as he tried to overdo during the powerplay, ended up hitting straight to Watson. Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan held their wickets as the boundaries became tougher. Once the dismissal of Shreyas Iyer, we had a tiny cracker of an innings from Pant who managed only 25 off 13 deliveries this time. A lot of credits to Dhoni’s field placement, a trick the Mumbai Indians missed.
Shikhar Dhawan scored 51 off 47 as when he tried opening up, he was dismissed by Bravo who already picked up the important wickets of Pant and Ingram. A small partnership at the end took Delhi to 147 and they knew they were 20 runs short.
Playing with only three foreign players and not picking up Lamichchane is quite surprising from the Delhi team. Hopefully, Morris who will play the next game comes good for the team.
Coming back to this match, chasing a total of 148, Ishant Sharma dismissed Rayudu early, but Watson joined by Raina smashed all over the park. Watson’s 26-ball 44 and Raina’s 16-ball 30 helped CSK to ease the pressure, but when both the players were removed by Mishra, the pressure was back on. Thankfully, they had deliveries, and that helped Dhoni and Jadhav to take their time on the field. In the end, Dhoni smacked a six to make it two runs off the final over. The drama didn’t stop there as Rabada started his spell well with a wicket and dot balls. Finally, in the last before delivery, Bravo smashed a boundary to win the match.
Though Delhi Capitals lost today, their determination to take it to the final over is something nice to see, and for CSK this is not something unusual. As long as they are winning, who cares about the net run-rate.
