Defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings look to be in the mood for more with MS Dhoni and his main establishing their early supremacy with a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals.
The three-time champions were in dominant form at the Feroz Shah Kotla as they ran the rule over a young Delhi side despite the match going down to the final over.
Restricting the hosts to total of 147-6, Chennai chased down the target with two balls to spare to make it two wins out of two in IPL 2019.
WATSON AND RAINA TAKE STING OUT OF THE CHASE
With the wicket being double-paced, a chase of 148 was not going to be a straightforward one for the visitors but the experienced Shane Watson (and Suresh Raina showed the way by striking at just the right time.
Making full use of the new ball, Watson roared back into form after his 10-ball duck against Bangalore with some crisp hits to the boundary in the powerplay.
The veteran opener punished every small error by Delhi’s bowlers as he raced away to 44 in no time. Striking three sixes and four boundaries, Watson reveled in his run-ins with Delhi pacers Kagiso Rabada and Ishant Sharma as he put Chennai in the driver’s seat.
He eventually was stumped off Amit Mishra but Raina made sure that the visitors never took their foot off the gas with some aggressive shot-making.
The all-time IPL top-scorer was particularly severe on his former India team-mate Ishant before he eventually departed for a 16-ball 30.
By ensuring that Chennai scored at a rate of almost 10 runs an over in the first half of their innings, Watson and Raina’s knocks set the platform for a comfortable finish.
Skipper Dhoni did take the game deep in typical fashion but the 37-year-old was never going to finish on the wrong end of such a chase.
Watson was in his elements. Image credit – @IPL/Twitter.
DELHI RUN OUT OF STEAM
Earlier, Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer’s decision to bat first after wining the toss was looking like a good one with openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan going great guns in the initial overs.
Shaw, in particular, looked to be in the mood with the India youngster smashing Shardul Thakur for three consecutive boundaries in the second over.
Shaw didn’t last too long at the crease and departed after an entertaining cameo with skipper Iyer following suit after a scratchy innings. However, Rishabh Pant came out all guns blazing just like he did against Mumbai Indians with boundaries starting to flow again at the Kotla.
While Dhawan (51 off 47) wasn’t the most convincing in his knock at the other end, his partnership with Pant had lifted Delhi to a strong position of 120-2 with five overs left to play.
However, the flourish Delhi needed at the end of their innings did not arrive with Chennai bouncing back strongly in the death overs.
Bravo derailed Delhi’s innings in the death overs. Image – IPL/Twitter.
Dwayne Bravo removed both Pant and Colin Ingram in quick succession in the 16th over. Keemo Paul went for a duck to Ravindra Jadeja in the next over before Bravo returned to bring Dhawan’s agony to an end.
Just 34 runs came off the final five overs for Delhi. This important phase of play saw the momentum shift the Chennai camp and the experienced Chennai did nit let let it slip once they came out to chase.
BRIEF SCORES
Delhi Capitals: 147-6
Shikhar Dhawan: 51 (47)
Dwayne Bravo: 3-33
Chennai Super Kings: 150-4
Shane Watson: 44 (26)
