Chennai Super Kings 167 for 8 (Dube 25, Marsh 3-18) beat Delhi Capitals 140 for 8 (Rossouw 35, Pathirana 3-37, Chahar 2-28) by 27 runs
An all-round effort from Chennai Super Kings helped them trounce Delhi Capitals by 27 runs at Chepauk, helping the four-time champions get one step closer towards the IPL playoffs.
Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja then provided the squeeze after Capitals slid to 25 for 3, and in the back end it was Matheesha Pathirana providing the finishing touch that sealed an NRR-boosting win for the hosts.
CSK are now almost certain of a top-four finish with 15 points in 12 games, while another win in their next two matches should secure a top-two position. The Capitals can now reach 14 points at best, which realistically might not be enough this season.
Capitals fail to recover
Even though Chahar’s early dismissals of David Warner and Phil Salt had rattled Capitals early, the visitors were hoping that Manish Pandey – returning to the XI – and Mitchell Marsh would dig them out of the difficult situation. But Pandey mistakenly ran for a single that wasn’t there, then turned back, and left Marsh stranded outside his crease.
That forced Pandey and No. 5 Rilee Rossouw to start a recovery job, with the score reading 25 for 3, but the CSK spinners’ stranglehold after the powerplay restricted them. Pandey made 27 in 29 while Rossouw scored 35 in 37, and while they were around, there was hope for a late blast to bring up the run-rate.
However, both fell in quick succession after struggling to up the tempo – Pandey lbw to Pathirana and Rossouw caught off Jadeja – and that sucked the momentum out of the chase. Axar Patel gave a brief glimmer of hope by racing to 20 in 11 balls, but his dismissal in the 18th over to Pathirana realistically ended Capitals’ hopes.
A tidy 19th over from Tushar Deshpande left Capitals needing 43 off the final over. And even though Pathirana was hit by Lalit Yadav for a hat-trick of fours in the final over, the Sri Lankan Impact Player picked off a third scalp in the game’s penultimate delivery to finish with 3 for 37.
“We threw our wickets at the top,” Warner said after the game. “I don’t think there was any good bowling to get us out, but that run-out put some pressure on us.
“Fifty-odd dot balls as well [55 dots] and you don’t win many games where that happens. There were four overs where we failed to rotate the strike.”
Dube injects energy into CSK’s first innings
After Ishant Sharma was hit for 23 in his first two overs of the first innings, Warner moved to spin early and found success when Axar had Devon Conway dismissed early, followed by the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad for 24 just after the powerplay.
Lalit then held on to a stunning caught-and-bowled chance to get rid of Ajinkya Rahane for 21 and when Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Moeen for only 7, there was a risk that CSK would finish with an under-par total.
But Dube, also battling a finger injury from the Mumbai Indians game, walked in and thumped Lalit for a 23-run over with some help from Ambati Rayudu too. Their partnership of 36 in only 19 balls went against the run of play.
Even though Dube fell for 25, his runs at a strike-rate of 208.33 served as a reminder that poor deliveries still deserved to be dispatched. When he fell, CSK were 113 for 5 in 14.2 overs.
Dhoni provides the midas touch
Jadeja was slow off the blocks, but began CSK’s charge in the 18th over by hitting Kuldeep for a six. Then Dhoni, who was struggling with his running, ruined Khaleel Ahmed’s figures. Khaleel had an economy of four after three overs but erred against Dhoni by being predictable.
Khaleel pushed deliveries across to Dhoni and he pounced on them by pulling him for six, then getting an edge for four before finishing the over with a straight six. That 21-run over in the 19th helped CSK touch 160, and even though Marsh took two wickets in a seven-run 20th over, the total of 167 proved too much on a sluggish Chepauk surface where batting first at the toss proved to be the right call.
“That’s what my job is,” Dhoni said about his nine-ball 20 after the game. “I told them this is what I’m supposed to do, don’t make me run a lot. This is working, others are doing their job, and I’m happy to contribute. Accordingly, I am practicing as well.
“We frankly did not know what a good score was. When you get 160-170, you never know if it is enough.”
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx