A commanding batting display led by Prithvi Shaw (64), backed up by disciplined bowling efforts from Kagiso Rabada (three for 26) and Axar Patel (4-0-18-1), powered Delhi Capitals to a 44-run win over Chennai Super Kings at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday.
Chasing 176, the Super Kings produced yet another sub-par batting performance and never seemed in the hunt at any point.
Openers M. Vijay and Shane Watson struggled and fell cheaply as Super Kings scored just 35 in the PowerPlay.
Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad were sluggish too before the latter was run out. From overs 6-10, the Chennai side managed only 12 runs.
Kedar Jadhav, who walked in at No. 5, failed to get going and by the time he and du Plessis looked to accelerate, the asking rate had mounted to more than 15 runs an over. It proved too steep a climb for the Super Kings.
Perfect balance
Earlier, having been put in, Shaw mixed with caution and aggression to come up with a knock of 65 (49b, 9x4, 1x6) as Capitals posted 175.
Shikhar Dhawan (35, 27b, 3x4, 1x6) and Rishabh Pant (37 not out, 25b, 5x4) chipped in with useful contributions.
Shaw, along with Dhawan, added 94 for the opening wicket, the duo going after the Super Kings spinners after the PowerPlay overs yielded only 36.
The 20-year-old had luck on his side as replays showed he had got a faint inside edge off the second ball of the match, which neither M.S. Dhoni nor Chahar seemed to be aware of.
Super Kings brought in pacer Josh Hazelwood for Lungi Ngidi and the Australian was right on the money, stifling the Capitals openers.
However, once the PowerPlay was over, Shaw wasted no time as he attacked Piyush Chawla, hitting four boundaries through cuts and drives in the leg-spinner’s first two overs.
At the other end, Dhawan greeted Ravindra Jadeja with a six and a four off his opening over. Shaw then swept the left-arm spinner on the leg-side for a maximum. In the four overs after the PowerPlay, the two batsmen amassed 52 runs to take Capitals to 88 at the halfway stage and set the stage for a big finish.
However, Chawla struck twice in the next two overs, removing the openers. Dhawan was trapped leg-before trying to play a reverse sweep while Shaw was stumped after he inside-edged on to his pads and the ball rolled back to Dhoni.
The quick wickets helped the Super Kings arrest the momentum as only 36 came from overs 11 to 15.
However, Hazlewood, who had gone for only seven in his first two overs, faced the fury of Pant's blade, conceding 21 off his last two as Capitals established a firm grip over the proceedings. It didn't loosen till the end.
Scoreboard
DELHI CAPITALS: Prithvi Shaw st. Dhoni b Chawla 64 (43b, 9x4, 1x6), Shikhar Dhawan lbw b Chawla 35 (27b, 3x4, 1x6), Rishabh Pant (not out) 37 (25b, 5x4), Shreyas Iyer c Dhoni b Curran 26 (22b, 1x4), Marcus Stoinis (not out) 5 (3b, 1x4); Extras (lb-5, w-3): 8; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 175.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-94 (Dhawan, 10.4 overs), 2-103 (Shaw, 12.2), 3-161 (Shreyas, 18.6).
SUPER KINGS BOWLING: Chahar 4-0-38-0, Curran 4-0-27-1, Hazlewood 4-0-28-0, Chawla 4-0-33-2, Jadeja 4-0-44-0.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: M. Vijay c Rabada b Nortje 10 (15b,1x4), Shane Watson c Hetmyer b Axar 14 (16b, 1x4, 1x6), Faf du Plessis c Pant b Rabada 43 (35b, 4x4), Ruturaj Gaikwad run out 5 (10b), Kedar Jadhav lbw b Nortje 26 (21b, 3x4), M.S. Dhoni c Pant b Rabada 15 (12b, 2x4), Ravindra Jadeja c Mishra b Rabada 12 (9b, 1x4), Sam Curran (not out) 1 (2b); Extras (lb-1, w-4): 5; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 131.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-23 (Watson, 4.2 overs), 2-34 (Vijay, 5.6), 3-44 (Ruturaj, 9.1), 4-98 (Jadhav, 15.4), 5-113 (du Plessis,17.2), 6-130 (Dhoni, 19.3), 7-131 (Jadeja, 19.6).
DELHI CAPITALS BOWLING: Rabada 4-0-26-3, Axar 4-0-18-1, Nortje 4-0-21-2, Avesh 4-0-42-0, Mishra 4-0-23-0.
Published - September 25, 2020 07:25 pm IST
