Defending champion Chennai Super Kings make it two in two in the Indian Premier League 2019 after with a win against Delhi Capitals at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Chennai’s chase began well when Shane Watson started in some style and scored 44 runs off just 26 balls. In the process, he hit four fours and three sixes before getting stumped to Amit Mishra. Chennai won the match by six wickets with two balls to spare.
Earlier, Delhi was batting first after losing the toss and introduced Amit Mishra back in the team in place of Trent Bolt. Shikhar Dhawan’s fifty was the sole highlight from their batting order as he made 51 runs off 47 balls and helped Delhi to reach 147/6 in 20 overs. Let’s have a look at what were the reasons behind Delhi’s defeat in their first home game of IPL 2019.
Watch – MS Dhoni and Shreyas Iyer played Ping-Pong before the game
Poor finish with the bat
Delhi was set to go bonkers at a point in the 16th over when the scorecard was 120/2. But Chennai’s veteran all-rounder Dwayne Bravo sucked the life out from their innings. He dismissed dangerous Rishabh Pant on the second ball and two balls later he got better off experience finisher, Colin Ingram. This proved costly for DC as they lose the momentum in death overs. Set batsman Shikhar Dhawan was the last hope for Delhi but he perished after reaching to his fifty and DC managed just 29/4 in last five overs.
Leaking too many in powerplay
Defending just 148 runs, Delhi Daredevils came out to bowl with their tail up. Ishant Sharma was breathing fire from one end but he bowled an occasional bad ball in every over. Spinners couldn’t bind CSK batsmen from playing their shots in the powerplay. Though Ishant dismissed Ambati Rayudu in his second over, Raina was in some mood to punish their bowling and scored boundary on every given opportunity. Shane Watson was the chief scorer in this phase as CSK raced to 58/1 in six overs.
Watch – Shane Watson involved in a heated argument with Ishant Sharma and Rabada
Poor Fielding didn’t help Delhi
Fielders of Delhi Capitals were sluggish on the field and conceded several free runs. On several occasions, they either fumbled in collecting the ball or gave a bad throw to the keeper. Shikhar Dhawan dropped Kedar Jadhav’s catch at a crucial juncture before dropping one off Ambati Rayudu in the very first over. Delhi fielders looked tired while on the field and cost them this close low-scoring contest.
