March 28, 2024

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CSK vs DD: Pant, Shankar Show Fight but DD Takes Loss

CSK vs DD: Pant, Shankar Show Fight but DD Takes Loss

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The Chennai Super Kings regained their place at the top of the VIVO IPL 2018 standings after they defeated the Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs at the MCA International Stadium in Pune on Monday night. After being put in to bat, CSK posted 211-4 riding on the back of half-centuries from opener Shane Watson and captain MS Dhoni. Later in the night, they restricted the visitors to 198-5.

CSK had their best start of the season when their openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis added 56 runs in the powerplay and extended their association to 102 in 10.5 overs. The hosts lost three wickets in quick succession when both the openers and Suresh Raina were dismissed in the space of 28 runs and three overs. Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni then consolidated the innings, and gave the innings the end-overs impetus by adding 79 runs in 6 overs before the former was dismissed off the penultimate ball of the innings. CSK added 81 in the middle overs and then accelerated towards the end adding 74 in the final five overs.

The Delhi Daredevils lost Prithvi Shaw very early in the run-chase and slipped to 74-4 in the ninth over. The visitors still managed to put up a fight, courtesy Rishabh Pant, who scored 79 off 45 balls (aided with 7 fours & 4 sixes), and Vijay Shankar, who remained unbeaten on 54, made from 31 balls (1 four & 5 sixes). Despite their individual efforts and their 88 run partnership, DD would eventually finish 14 runs short of what they needed. DD were 59-2 at the end of the powerplay, added 69-2 in the middle overs, and added a further 70 runs in the final overs.

Standout batting performance

Shane Watson was his in elements on Monday evening and punished the Delhi Daredevils for their slightest errors – on line or length. Most of the deliveries on the pads or pitched short, he converted to boundary balls; he hit seven sixes and four boundaries in his 40-ball outing – six of the seven sixes being scored on the leg-side. He pulled the short deliveries, flicked the pad-line deliveries and on the odd occasion the bowlers landed full or offered him width, he drove fluently through the off-side. Watson, who got to his half-century off 25 balls, made 78 before he miscued an attempted big-hit off Amit Mishra and holed out to long-off.

The Australian was the dominant partner in CSK’s 102-run opening partnership; he contributed 66 runs off 33 balls in that first wicket stand. He would himself be third man out in the fourteenth over.

The final flourish to the innings was given by MS Dhoni, who walked in to bat after Watson was dismissed – with 6.1 overs left in the innings. The CSK captain took a few deliveries to size up the conditions and launched the seventh delivery he faced, which he sent sailing into the stands at long-off – a flat hit off the leg-spinner Amit Mishra. Trent Boult was at the receiving end of his onslaught the following over: his first three deliveries –the 17th over of the innings – were 6, 6, & 4; the first ball deposited into midwicket, the second over long-on and the third ball a boundary through fine-leg. Right at the end, Dhoni once again teed off, putting away a full toss off Avesh Khan into the stands at square-leg, and collecting a six a boundary off Boult in the final over. Dhoni, who was dropped on 31, brought up his half-century off 22 balls, and would finish unbeaten on 51; his innings contained 2 fours & 5 sixes.

The other CSK debutant, KM Asif, bowled with good pace, and ended up being CSK’s most successful bowler in the match; the Kerala pacer was expensive, but picked up two wickets and ended with figures of 2-43 from his three overs.

For the Delhi Daredevils, the young pacer Avesh Khan returned respectable figures of 4-0-28-0, while Amit Mishra, who dismissed Watson with a tossed up leg-break, finished with figures of 4-0-30-1.

Stat of the Match

With the addition of his 51 runs in this match, MS Dhoni has now scored more runs than any other captain in the IPL. Captain Dhoni has now scored 3356 runs; he overtook Gautam Gambhir’s aggregate of 3518 runs.

Brief Scores:

Chennai Super Kings 211-4 (Shane Watson 78, Faf du Plessis 33, Ambati Rayudu 41, MS Dhoni 51*) beat

Delhi Daredevils 198-5 (Rishabh Pant 79, Vijay Shankar 54*, KM Asif 2-43) by 13 runs.

Man of the Match:

Shane Watson, for his 40-ball 78

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