| Scores | Upcoming | Results |
Delhi Daredevils 162 for 5 (Pant 38, Shankar 36*, Patel 36*; Ngidi 2-14) beat Chennai Super Kings 128 for 6 (Rayudu 50, Jadeja 27*, Boult 2-20, Mishra 2-20) by 34 runs
New Delhi: Delhi Daredevils fought hard to salvage some pride in a dead rubber versus Chennai Super Kings Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi on Friday night.
DD earn their fourth win of the season; which has been far from impressive.
Nonetheless, this victory will pull themselves up to spoil Mumbai Indians' campaign in a must-win clash for the latter on Sunday.
Chasing 163, Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson were slow to start off.
However, after end of powerplays, CSK were up and going courtesy a 22-run over from Avesh Khan. Rayudu took the momentum from thereon before losing Watson. The right-hander found it tough to get going, and perished while taking on Amit Mishra.
The leggie invited him for a big shot, and Watson was caught by Trent Boult at short fine leg.
Suresh Raina also struggled on a sluggish pitch at Kotla. As a result, he was dismissed by Nepal sensation, Sandeep Lamichhane. Raina went for the slog, and departed for a mere 15 (18).
Rayudu was timing it well as he has done right through the course of the tournament. He, however, found the fielder — Glenn Maxwell — at the deep. Rayudu fell after completing 3,000 IPL runs.
CSK were never given a freeway courtesy Mishra’s 4-0-20-2. Lamichhane, playing only his second game, also complimented the senior pro to return with 4-0-21-1.
These eight overs applied pressure on the opposition camp, and kept things under control.
In the end, CSK fell short by 34 runs. MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja’s presence till the 18th over meant nothing as the equation read 50 off 12 balls.
DD’s spirited victory showed they aren’t the worse side in the tournament, but haven’t utilised the half-chances well.
Earlier, DD mainstays Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant perished after starts.
However, Vijay Shankar and Harshal Patel’s cameos took them to a middling 162 for 5 in 20 overs.
However, CSK’s heavy batting lineup should be able to chase down the total easily and secure a place for them in Qualifier 1. To remind the readers, this way they will get two shots to feature in IPL 2018 final.
The innings commenced with Shaw and Iyer. While Iyer was sedate, Shaw looked to pounce on everything. He didn’t time on most occasions, and departed despite getting a reprieve from Shardul Thakur. Eventually, Shardul was the one to pluck his catch.
CSK bowlers were disciplined throughout the innings. However, DD turned things around in the last 5 overs, scoring 60. Of these 60, 26 (including 4 sixes) came off the final over, off Dwayne Bravo.
Shankar and Patel have given DD a fighting chance. However, MS Dhoni will be content with the final score, given his batsmen’s form.
