Finance
Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs to register their first win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
At their home ground, with circumstances favorable for batting, DC chose to bat first. Prithvi Shaw replaced Ricky Bhui in the side and was assigned to bat first alongside David Warner. The DC openers were cautious at first, trying to gauge how CSK bowled. They made 24 in the first four overs.
The DC bats opted to go wild, scoring eighteen runs in the power play after Deepak Chahar was brought on for his third over. The highlight was Warner’s falling scoop behind square for six. After the power play, Mustafizur Rahman was sent in to bowl the last over. Shaw scored three clean boundaries in an over that went for twenty, joining Warner in the assault. At the end of the six overs, DC had jumped to 62 for no loss.
Even after the powerplay, Shaw welcomed Ravindra Jadeja with a six-over long-on, and the attack persisted. DC kept up a run-rate of more than ten per cent. At that point, Matheesha Pathirana entered the game and assisted CSK in rallying.
Pathirana’s first impact came from an incredible effort on the field rather than from his slingy bowling. Warner attempted to reverse-scoop Mustafizur through third man in the tenth over. Pathirana, who was positioned at short third, leaped to his right and made an incredible diving catch of the ball. The batter was stunned beyond belief. After hammering another six, Shaw got a thick edge to MS Dhoni’s gloves off Jadeja in the next over.
Rishabh Pant and Mitchell Marsh set about a recovery job over the next few overs. While they picked occasional boundaries, the run-rate had dropped after the initial phase. Pathirana then came in to bowl the 15th over. Marsh was castled by the trademark slinging yorker that went under his bat and shattered the woodwork. A couple of deliveries later, Tristan Stubbs was bamboozled by another toe-crusher. At 134 for four in 15 overs, DC had their task cut out in the last five.
This is when Pant took charge and unveiled those aggressive shots. Over the next few overs, he gradually changed gears, managing to attack both Mustafizur and Pathirana. Mustafizur was pulled for six, while he managed to dig out an attempted yorker from Pathirana in the 19th over and lofted it over long-on for six. A couple of fours followed to take Pant past his half-century – a first since his celebrated comeback. Although he fell soon after, Pant had done enough to help DC score 191.
CSK’s reply got off to a shaky start with Khaleel Ahmed getting copious movement early on. In the very first over, Ruturaj Gaikwad inside-edged one from outside the off stump into Pant’s gloves. Run-scoring was difficult in those initial overs with both Ishant Sharma and Khaleel keeping it tight. The pressure mounted on CSK when Rachin Ravindra tried to loft Khaleel in the third over but skied it to mid-off. In the powerplay, Khaleel had bowled three overs and scalped both wickets for only nine runs.
It was up to Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell to script a recovery. Rahane’s batting was positive from the outset as he drove Ishant for two fours in the fourth over. A pull shot for six off Anrich Nortje was the highlight. Mitchell got his eye in and ultimately attacked Axar Patel in the ninth over – lofting him for a huge six down the ground. Post the first time out, the CSK batters decided to change gears. Rasikh Salam, the Impact Player in place of Shaw, was smashed for two sixes as CSK made their intentions clear. However, Axar Patel struck in the next over with Mitchell hitting the ball back to him.
Rahane was leading the innings and appeared well-prepared to continue into his forties. But Mukesh Kumar struck twice in the 14th over, having Sameer Rizvi caught at short third man first ball and dismissing Rahane caught at long on. At this point, DC’s bowlers started to tighten the screws.
The closer the slog overs got, the more CSK was being asked for. The situation worsened when Shivam Dube was caught lbw in the 17th over, giving Mukesh his third wicket. With much enthusiasm, that came Dhoni to the crease where he immediately gave his supporters two boundaries. Dhoni almost casually lofted one over cover in the next over to smash Khaleel for a huge six.
Any outside chance CSK had was eliminated by a superb penultimate over bowled by Mukesh (three for 21). In the last over, Dhoni (37 not out off 16 balls) wowed the audience with a blitz, slamming 4,6,4,6, against Nortje, but CSK failed to reach the goal by 20 runs.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 191/5 in 20 overs (David Warner 52, Rishabh Pant 51, Prithvi Shaw 43; Pathirana 3-31) beat Chennai Super Kings 171/6 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 45, MS Dhoni 37 not out, Daryl Mitchell 34
