On Monday night, Delhi Daredevils (DD) suffered another defeat in this season and this time against the hosts Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Pune).
Delhi captain Shreyas Iyer decided to field first after winning the toss. With the help of great batting performances from opener Shane Watson, no.4 batsman Ambati Rayudu and skipper MS Dhoni, CSK put a big total of 211/4 on the board in 20 overs.
Chasing down the target, DD lost their top wickets in regular interval. In the second half of that innings, Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar built an excellent partnership but it was too late for the team as they scored 198/5 at the end of 20 overs.
While CSK won this game by 13 runs, let’s check out some important reasons for DD’s defeat in this game.
Failed to take early wickets
CSK openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis provided a brilliant start as they provided a 102-run partnership for the opening wicket. That partnership set the momentum for the hosts to put a good total on the board.
DD bowlers failed to take any wicket in the first ten overs which proved very costly for them as CSK made a huge total on the board.
Rayudu-Dhoni destructive partnership at the end
While the openers provided a big partnership, in-form CSK batsmen Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni put a great attacking 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket which helped the team to comfortably cross the 200-run mark. Both batsmen slammed hard the visiting bowlers who seemed totally helpless and clueless at that crucial stage.
Regular wickets falling in the first-half chase
Chasing down a big total like 212 runs in a T20 game, a good start is always very crucial. Delhi team failed to provide a good start to remain in the game. Their top-order batsmen failed to play the big innings as that became a big difference in the game between the two teams.
DD was once 74/4 before Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar put an important partnership for the fifth wicket. However, that partnership failed to secure an important victory for the visiting team as that was too late to be effective in the game.
Vijay Shankar was too late to provide destructive batting
Though Vijay Shankar impressed with the bat at the very end moment, it was too late for the team. While the 27-year-old right-handed batsman scored an unbeaten 54 runs off 31 balls with only four and five sixes, he was not seeming positive for that big chasing till the 18th over.
In the last two overs, Shankar hit 4 sixes but the target was already looking like unachievable. It was the time when Pant was looking for the proper support but Vijay provided that very late. Though he rotated the strike very well in the game, few more earlier attacking shots needed from his bat which could change the game result as CSK won the match by only 13 runs.
