Picture : Twitter / IPL
Delhi Capitals had created the buzz ahead of their clash against the Chennai Super Kings at Feroz Shah Kotla , courtesy their power showing against Mumbai Indians in their first match. But that hype quickly faded against the well balanced CSK side skippered by ‘Captain cool’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Deciding to bat first after winning the toss, Delhi Capitals found runs hard to come by as CSK bowlers bowled tight and held things under control . Prithvi Shaw once again failed to carry on after a start . He fell for 24. His opening partner Shikhar Dhawan, anchored the innings well, but Dhawan could not cut loose when it mattered. He scored 51 but it came off 47 balls. It was bit too much . The acceleration that Delhi needed did not come.
Rishabh Pant after his Mumbai Indians heroics scored 25 off 13 balls. Skipper Shreyas Iyer fell for 18. Colin Ingram fell for 2 . Delhi batsmen just could not get away . And managed to post a much below par target of 147 for 6 in their 20 overs . They needed at least a target above 180 to challenge CSK given the power batting line- up of the men in yellow.
For CSK, Dwayne Bravo shone with the ball with 3/ 33 (4 overs) , Imran Tahir 1/ 20 ( 2 overs), Ravindra Jadeja 1/ 23 ( 4 overs)
In reply Chennai Super Kings , Lost opener Ambati Rayudu early to ishant Sharma for 5 . But all-rounder Shane Watson came to the party and powered the men in yellow. Watson was brilliant and blasted a 26 ball 44 with four fours and three sixes. Along with Suresh Raina ( 30) off 16 balls Watson added 52 for the second wicket.
There was bit of face- off and exchange of words between Shane Watson and Kagiso Rabada during the CSK innings
Kedar Jadhav chipped in with 27. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was unbeaten on 32 off 35 balls , so too was all- rounder Dwayne Bravo who hit the winning runs. CSK won by 6 wickets and 2 balls to spare. Finishing at 150 / 4 in 19.4 overs.
For Delhi Capitals Amit Mishra took 2/ 35 ( 4 overs) Kagiso Rabada 1/ 26 (3. 4) once again impressed all with his searing pace, Ishant Sharma bowled well again 1/ 28 ( 3 overs) . But 147 was not at the target for the CSK in the end.
