MUMBAI: An all-round display by Chennai Super Kings, led by Devon Conway’s 87 and Moeen Ali’s 3/13 helped them seal a 91-run win over Delhi Capitals here at DY Patil Stadium on Sunday.
It was a terrible day for the Capitals as the clinical performance by CSK swept them away from the match completely.
Chasing 209, Delhi Capitals were off a poor start as they lost the opener KS Bharat for 8 off 5. In an attempt to pull, the batter was caught at slips by Moeen Ali and it was Simarjeet Singh who got his wicket.
This brought Mitchell Marsh to the crease, who had the compatriot David Warner by his side. Warner looked really good with the bat, smashing an in-form bowler Mukesh Choudhary for two sixes, one of them being an outside edge which went over the third man and the other at the final ball of third over. Marsh also announced his arrival with a four off Mukesh’s delivery in the third over.
Spinner Maheesh Theekshana was introduced to the attack in the fifth over, who earned his side a key wicket of the danger man Warner, who was removed via LBW dismissal for 19 off 12.
Rishabh Pant, the captain, was the next man in, with a responsibility to stitch a partnership and attack at the right time. He announced his intentions immediately with three consecutive fours, the first of which involved him dancing down the track and losing his balance.
Marsh helped DC cross the 50-run mark with a six off the first ball of the sixth over. At the end of powerplay after six overs, DC stood at a great 59, though at a loss of two wickets. Marsh (16*) and Pant (16*) stood at the crease, looking forward to taking forward the chase with their aggressive approach.
Pant and Marsh continued their attacking approach, before the latter was dismissed for 25 off 20, ending a 36-run stand with Ali getting the wicket with assistance from Gaikwad’s safe hands,
The dismissal brought Rovman Powell, the hero of last match for DC to the crease. Before Pant and Powell could resume things, Pant was clean bowled by 21 by Moeen Ali at team’s score of 75. Ripal Patel joined the proceedings but departed after scoring only six after being dismissed by Ali in what was a game-changing over for CSK.
At the end of 10 overs, DC had tumbled to 82/5 due to their struggles with CSK spin, with Axar Patel (1*) and Powell (2*).
In the second half of the innings, struggles with spin continued for DC, as the all-rounder Axar Patel was dismissed clean bowled by Choudhary for 1 in the first ball of 11th over, followed by a dangerous Powell being dismissed with assistance from Dhoni behind the wickets in the fifth ball of the innings, leaving the Capitals at the brink of defeat at 85/7.
Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur were left to fight off the CSK attack. Yadav was dismissed by Simarjeet Singh for 5 off 17, leaving DC at 99/8, with CSK two wickets away from their fourth win of the season.
Anrich Nortje was next up to accompany Thakur. The duo tried to stall an imminent defeat with some singles and boundaries, before Thakur was dismissed for 24 off 19 by Bravo with Dhoni catching from behind. The last batter Khaleel Ahmed was bowled at the very next ball by Bravo, clinching a 91-run win for CSK.
Moeen Ali was the lead bowler for CSK with 3/13. Choudhary, Bravo, Simarjeet Singh took two each while Theekshana got one.
Top knocks by Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad and a quick cameo by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, provided Chennai Super Kings with a total of 208/6, at the end of the first innings against Delhi Capitals, here at Dr DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.
Conway smashed 87 runs off 49 balls, while Gaikwad scored 41 runs off 33 balls, and gave Chennai a strong hand in the first innings.
Put to bat, Chennai had an amazing start to their innings as their opening batters Gaikwad and Conway smashed 57 runs in just 6 overs. The duo kept on thrashing the Delhi bowlers and kept the momentum in the favor of their side.
Conway then brought up his half-century in just 28 balls, while Gaikwad gave a strong stand to him from the other end. They took Chennai’s score to 84/0 in just 9 overs. The former then smashed three back-to-back fours on Kuldeep Yadav in the 10th over, and took his side across the 100-run mark, without any loss.
Delhi finally took a sigh of relief when Anrich Nortje sent Gaikwad (41) back to the dugout in the 11th over, leaving the team’s total at 110/1. Conway was joined by Shivam Dube on the crease and they continued the carnage.
Dube smashed 19 runs in the 16th over, which was bowled by Shardul Thakur and took his side’s score to 167/1. It was finally in the 17th over, when Conway was caught by Rishabh Pant on Khaleel Ahmed’s delivery and departed after scoring 87 runs off 49 balls.
Conway’s dismissal was followed by Dube’s wicket by Mitchell Marsh in the 18th over. But that did not affect Chennai’s batting power as Dhoni came to the crease and smashed 11 runs in the same over.
Ambati Rayudu, who had joined Dhoni at the crease, could not stand long as he was caught by Axar Patel in the 19th over, with the team’s score at 187/4. Moeen Ali came to the crease and opened his account with a boundary. The over ended on a high for Chennai as Dhoni sent the last ball off to the stands for a six.
In the 20th over, Moeen Ali hit a boundary on the very first ball before getting caught by David Warner on the second delivery by Nortje. Delhi got another breakthrough on the very next ball as Robin Uthappa was sent back for a duck.
Dhoni, who was then joined by Dwayne Bravo, took Chennai’s total to 208/6, after taking a double on the last ball of the innings.
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 208/6 (Devon Conway 87, Ruturaj Gaikwad 41, Anrich Nortje 3/42) and Delhi Capitals 117 (Mitchell Marsh 25, Shardul Thakur 24, Moeen Ali 3/13). (ANI)
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