Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings by three wickets
In the match between the first and the second-best team of the competition, it was Delhi Capitals who came out on top.
Last season’s runner-ups overcame Chennai Super Kings by three wickets to top the IPL 2021 standings. Requiring 136 runs to win, Pant’s men got over the line in the 20th over.
Rayudu gives Chennai some hope
The batting innings started really well for Dhoni’s men with both Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis hitting the ball crisply. After their shock defeat against the Rajasthan Royals a couple of days ago, it was important for the Men in Yellow to go back to basics. However, the South African batsman was the first to blink as he got outdone by Axar Patel.
Gaikwad, who scored a century in his last match, couldn’t repeat the same heroics as he lost his wicket in the fifth over. Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali didn’t help matters either for Chennai as both of the veteran batsmen left the crease before the halfway mark.
Ambati Rayudu and Skipper, MS Dhoni came to the crease to reorganize the innings. The Delhi Capitals won’t be happy with the number of extras they had given away. By the 12th over, last season’s runner-ups had already given 13 external runs to the total, with nine of them being wides.
Rayudu tried to take charge by hitting Avesh Khan for two boundaries in the 12th over. On the other hand, the former Indian skipper just couldn’t seem to get going as he wasted three balls of the 13th over to put further pressure on his team.
It was time to worry for the Men in Yellow, as they could still be playing eliminators if they had lost this match, and Punjab Kings beat them as well. With such a lethargic batting display, they had every reason to worry. From the 13th till the 16th over, there were no boundaries scored by the three-time champions.
In the 17th over, Rayudu finally scored a boundary to get his team over the 100-mark. However, time was running out for Chennai. The next over finally turned out to be a good one for the Super Kings as they managed to squeeze 14 runs out of it.
The right-hander hit a huge six off Anrich Nortje. Shortly after, he brought up his half-century to ensure that the Men in Yellow have a considerable target to defend. Dhoni’s disappointing batting display was finally over as he was dismissed by Avesh in the last over. Chennai finished off with 136/5.
Dhawan and Hetmeyer take Delhi to the top
Just like Kolkata yesterday, Delhi tried to have a pragmatic approach by nullifying the strike bowlers of Chennai Super Kings. However, their defensive approach resulted in the dismissal of the opener, Prithvi Shaw. Shikhar Dhawan took charge and smashed the Super Kings’ bowling attack to all parts of the ground to get his side over the 50-run mark in just the sixth over.
However, on other hand, Shreyas Iyer couldn’t take advantage of the momentum as he fell to Josh Hazlewood. Skipper, Rishabh Pant, hit a few sublime strokes to delight the Delhi fans. However, he fell to Ravindra Jadeja in the ninth over. At the halfway mark, the Capitals found themselves at 75/3.
With just over a run a ball required in the last ten overs, it looked to be an easy task for Pant’s men. Ripal Patel decided to take charge as he hit Jadeja for a couple of boundaries in the 11th over. With the required run-rate not being a factor, last season’s runner-ups started rotating the strike to frustrate Chennai.
However, there was a twist in the tale as Jadeja removed Patel in the 13th over. Soon after, Shardul Thakur removed Ravichandran Ashwin to make things even more interesting. The fast-bowler also got the all-important wicket of Dhawan to put Chennai in the driver seat. The left-hander scored 39 runs off 35 balls.
With 33 runs required off 24 balls with four wickets in hand, the match hung in the balance. Both Hetmeyer and Patel couldn’t do anything constructive in the 17th over as the required run-rate continued to increase.
The big talking point was the 18th over. In a battle between two West Indians, it was Hetmeyer who stood tall as he smashed Dwayne Bravo for two boundaries to reduce the deficit to 16 runs. The left-hander sealed the match in the next over after launching Hazlewood out of the ground. In the last over, Delhi required six runs. They clinched victory with two balls to spare.
