Chennai Super Kings (CSK) posted 179/4 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Sharjah on Saturday, 17 October.
After opener Faf du Plessis scored a half-century, Ambati Rayudu (25-ball 45*) and Ravindra Jadeja (13-ball 33*) smashed 45 runs in the last three overs to take CSK to a competitive total.
MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat in both the team’s ninth league match. CSK made just the one change, bringing in Kedar Jadhav for Piyush Chawla. Delhi fielded an unchanged side with captain Shreyas Iyer having recovered from the shoulder injury he picked up during the previous match.
Delhi Capitals handed the ball to Tushar Despande for the first over, and in his second IPL game, the 25-year-old removed Sam Curran for a duck as Anrich Nortje took a stunner at the boundary.
From there, opener Faf du Plessis scored a half-century with a single on his 39th delivery and on the very next ball Nortje cleaned up Watson (28-ball 36) to end the 87-run partnership.
Faf was sent back to the hut for 58 (off 47 balls) after Dhawan took a diving catch off Rabada’s delivery. With this wicket, the pacer became the fastest to reach 50 IPL wickets.
Coming in to bat at number five, captain Dhoni could add only 3 runs before becoming Nortje’s second victim of the day.
Rayudu and Jadeja then stitched an unbeaten 50-run partnership off 23 balls. All-rounder Jadeja smashed four sixes in the last two overs while Rayudu’s knock included four sixes and a boundary.
Nortje, who bowled the fastest IPL delivery in their last game, finished with figures of 2/44. Tushar (1/39) and Rabada (1/33) took a wicket each while Axar Patel (0/23) and R Ashwin (0/30 in 3 overs) remained wicketless.
Sixth-placed CSK are looking to build on the win they registered in their previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Second-placed DC, on the other hand, come into the game on the back of a 13-run win against Rajasthan Royals in their previous match.
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