During the 30th match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Daredevils (DD) at Pune, hosts CSK beat Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs in a match where the visitors should have been restricted to a much lower total.
After Shreyas Iyer put the home team in to bat, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis started the innings on a watchful note, but picked up after the first few overs. The duo ended up sharing a 102-run stand for the first wicket. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came in to bat in the 14th over after Watson was dismissed by Amit Mishra. Dhoni did not waste time in getting his eye in, playing his shots from the word go. Rayudu, on the other end, provided equal support to his captain.
In the second innings, Delhi Daredevils did not get off to the best of start as they lost their openers cheaply. Another couple of dismissals had all but ruled them out of the match. Having said that, individual half-centuries from Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar gave them an outside chance in the contest. Eventually, they ended up scoring 198-5 in 20 overs.
Now, we will look at the hits and flops players in this match.
Hits
Shane Watson (CSK) – Coming in to open the batting with a new partner in Faf du Plessis, Watson proved as to why he is still a dominant force in this format at the top of the order. At one point in time, he looked set to score his second century of the tournament, but eventually ended up scoring 78 (40) with the help of four fours and seven sixes. He was adjourned the ‘Man of the Match’ for scoring his 15th IPL half-century.
MS Dhoni (CSK) – Coming in to bat at No. 5 in the 14th over, MS Dhoni registered his 20th IPL half-century. He was responsible for putting Chennai Super Kings in a commanding position. He ended up scoring 51* (22) with the help of two fours and five sixes.
Rishabh Pant (DD) – Coming in to bat at No. 4 in the fifth over, Rishabh Pant came in in a situation where his team was in a spot of bother. He shared a 92-run partnership with Vijay Shankar which propelled the Daredevils to a distant victory. Till the time hw was at the crease, he played a lone hand, scoring 79 (45) with the help of seven fours and four sixes.
Flops
Suresh Raina (CSK) – Suresh Raina came in to bat at No. 3 in the 12th over. With a sound foundation laid down by the openers, it was a great chance for him to cash in. Having said that, he missed a nothing delivery from Glenn Maxwell to be bowled by the Australian all-rounder. He scored 1 (2).
Liam Plunkett (DD) – Having made his IPL debut in the previous match for Delhi Daredevils, Plunkett was shown the harsh reality of the format tonight. He was taken apart by the opposition batsmen to the extent that he didn’t complete his full quota of four overs. He registered match figures of 3-0-52-4.
Shreyas Iyer (DD) – Shreyas Iyer, captain of Delhi Daredevils, was expected to play an innings of significance in a 212-run chase. He scored a dull 13 (14) before trying for an impossible run which led to him being run-out.
