In the 50th match of the VIVO IPL 2021, Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings by three wickets. Following the victory, DC dethroned CSK from the number one spot on the points table.
Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to field. The Delhi-based franchise didn’t let the Chennai Super Kings batsmen have partnerships in the middle overs and restricted them to a below-par total of 136. The runners-up of the previous season had a decent start to their run chase. Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw had a small yet dominating partnership of 24 in the initial overs. Following Shaw’s wicket, Dhawan continued the assault as he smashed 21 runs to Deepak Chahar in the fifth over. DC had managed to maintain the run rate but kept losing wickets at regular intervals which hindered their momentum. Dhawan kept the scoreboard ticking on one side while Shreyas Iyer(2), Rishabh Pant (15), Ripal Patel (18) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2) lost their wickets in the middle overs. Dhawan’s wicket at a crucial stage shifted the momentum towards CSK. Shimron Hetmyer was the new batsman at number five, without taking much time to settle, the southpaw started attacking the CSK bowlers. With 28-needed off the last three overs, Hetmyer turned the game in the next two 12 balls after he was dropped in the 18th over. DC needed four of the last over, Axar Patel (5) got out on the third delivery of the over. Just when it was anticipated that the game is heading towards a twist, Kagiso Rabada (4*) flicked a boundary to seal the game without creating any undue drama.
Ambati Rayudu and Robin Uthappa were the highest run-scorers for CSK in the first innings. Vital contribution from Rayudu helped CSK register a defendable total.
Axar Patel was the pick among the bowlers for DC as he pocketed two wickets for 18 while, Avesh Khan, Anrich Notrje and Ravichandran Ashwin had one wicket each to their names. For CSK, Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja grabbed two wickets each while Josh Hazlewood, DJ Bravo and Deepak Chahar had one wicket each.
Following this victory, DC (20) and CSK (18) have occupied the first and second positions respectively.
Scorecard:
Chennai Super Kings: 136/5, Overs 20, Ambati Rayudu (55), Robin Uthappa (19), Axar Patel (2/18)
Delhi Capitals: 139/7, Overs 19.4, Shikhar Dhawan (39), Shimron Hetmyer (28*), Shardul Thakur (2/13)