Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings are facing each other in the top of the table clash in the Indian Premier League 2021. Dubai International Stadium is hosting this match which will determine who will finish the league stage at the top of the points table.
Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to field first. Rishabh Pant named one change in their playing XI as Ripal Patel makes his debut in place of Steve Smith. MS Dhoni came up with a plethora of changes. Sam Curran made way for Dwayne Bravo while KM Asif and Suresh Raina were replaced by Deepak Chahar and Robin Uthappa.
Also Read: MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant’s bromance is winning heart, watch
CSK got off to a good start with a flurry of boundaries by Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad. But both got out inside the powerplay. Moeen Ali and Robin Uthappa also failed to give life to CSK’s innings and they were 62/4 in 8.3 overs. MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu, then, got together to steady the innings.
The pair added 70 runs for the fifth wicket but they couldn’t give the boost to their innings. Rayudu started hitting boundaries in the death over but Dhoni couldn’t get going despite playing 27 balls for his 18 runs. Riding on Rayudu’s unbeaten 55, CSK posted 136/5 in 20 overs.
Chasing the target, Prithvi Shaw got out early after scoring 18 runs in 12 balls. Shikhar Dhawan, however, wasn’t bothered by this and started scoring boundaries from the word go but didn’t get assistance from his teammates.
Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and debutant Ripal Patel spent time in the middle but couldn’t stick around for long. Shardul Thakur changed the momentum of the game in the 15th over when he dismissed Ravichandran Ashwin and well-set Shikhar Dhawan in the same over.
Also Read: K Gowtham drops a catch and the match against DC by spilling Shimron Hetmyer’s catch
Axar Patel and Shimron Hetmyer were batting in the middle and had an uphill task to take DC home. Hetmyer got a lucky reprieve from K Gowtham who dropped an easy catch of him. Hetmyer used the given chance well and punished CSK with his unbeaten 28-run knock and took DC home with three wickets in hand.
See how Twitter reacted to this low-scoring thriller;
#Csk need Dhoni to comeback to form sooner rather than later. #DC is the team to beat this year.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 4, 2021
BOOM! Get in there @DelhiCapitals
Yessss Hettie 👊🏻🙌🏼
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) October 4, 2021
https://twitter.com/QuickWristSpin/status/1445082895962370060?s=20
A terrific victory for @DelhiCapitals to get to the top! Their momentum now is unmatched and they are the clear favorites, csk fans can say catches win matches but 136 was never going to be enough on this wicket for @ChennaiIPL, but a grt fight back by the men in yellow!#DCvCSK
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) October 4, 2021
Exciting match. DC hold nerve and squeeze through to important win. Gowtham dropping sitter of Hetmyer gave decisive twist after #CSK had fought back superbly defending low score. #DC now finish in top 2
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 4, 2021
That's the beauty of @IPL @ChennaiIPL @DelhiCapitals @DJBravo47 @SHetmyer #IPL #CSK #IPL2021 #DCvCSK #DelhiCapitals #Bravo #hetmyer pic.twitter.com/rUsYqD5UC8
— DEBESH JHA 🇮🇳 (@the_upper_cut) October 4, 2021
Unfortunately Chennai did not utilise their best middle order players. Jadeja Bravo should have taken this to 160. #CSKvsDC
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) October 4, 2021