XtraTime Web Desk: Opener Shane Watson and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni powered Chennai Super Kings back into the winning ways after their loss to Mumbai Indians in the previous game to register a comfortable victory against the Daredevils today.
Shreyas Iyer asked Chennai to bat and the new opening partnership of Shane Watson & Faf du Plessis made a great start with a century stand. Watson, who survived a close LBW shout off the very first ball of the innings produced a masterclass of power hitting, smashing 7 sixes in his 40-ball knock. When he departed in the 14th over the Kings were well placed at 130, setting the stage for an MSD onslaught. The home crowd got their money’s worth as the skipper in yellow carted boundary after boundary in the company of Ambati Rayudu and propelled the score past 200. He has been batting with new found freedom this season and he helped himself to yet another unbeaten half-century.
In the chase, Delhi lost their top 3 by the 7th over. Rishabh Pant led the fightback alongside allrounder Vijay Shankar with a belligerent knock. The game was continuously slipping away from them as the required rate climbed but Pant continued to pummel sixes to give his team a glimmer of hope. Lungi Ngidi dismissed Pant in the 18th over to close the door on Delhi. Shankar found his range a little too late for Delhi’s liking as he struck few big blows to end the innings with a flourish. He reached his maiden half-century as his team slumped to a 13-run defeat.
Brief Scores:
CSK 211/4 (Watson 78, Dhoni 51*; Maxwell 1-5)
DD 198/5 (Pant 79, Shankar 54; Asif 2-43)