In the 30th match of the IPL, CSK maintained its stronghold over the IPL by once again topping the points table and ruling the number one rank. They defeated a spirited Delhi Daredevils which thanks to Rishabh Pant, sniffed a chance of a miraculous win but in the end, it was a longshot. Chennai defended 211 runs with the margin of 13 runs. Delhi now finds themselves at the bottom of the table.

The temptation of terming Rishabh Pant’s dismissal at the turning point of the match but in essence the match was lost in the first innings itself. Chasing 212 runs to win is next to climbing Mount Everest without an oxygen supply. The major contributors to the first innings score of CSK were Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni.

While Watson received a reprieve on the first ball of the match, he smacked the next one for a four. Watson then like a man on the mission started belting all the bowlers around. He was sending sixes out of the park and tonking the bowlers all around. When he got out the momentum was carried forward by Rayudu and MS Dhoni.

MSD at one stage was 5 runs from 6 balls. He then switched into top gear and started thrashing bowlers all around. Soon he raced to 31 runs from 14 balls. At the end of 18 overs, CSK was 187/3 and MSD-Rayudu taking it way. Then a chance came Delhi’s way.

Dhoni took the strike on the bowling of Avesh Khan. The ball from Avesh was short of the length, Dhoni putting his power behind swung it hard towards mid-wicket, the pull was mistimed and Colin Munro came in running to take the catch. The ball settled in his waiting hands and immediately popped out. The catch was dropped.

MSD further added 20 runs from the next 8 balls. The final total of CSK became a mammoth 211/4 and Delhi were under pressure from ball one. Had Dhoni’s catch been held, the total around 205 could have well been chasable.