IPL 2022: Chennai Super Kings play party-spoilers for beleaguered Delhi Capitals

If there’s one big difference between the sides, it the approach or the lack of patience. The Delhi batters didn’t take a cue from the manner in which Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad approached the innings, when they did not take their chances but milked the bowling by finding the gaps.

Giving the match on a platter

If Chennai had to say a big thank you, it should be to Delhi skipper Rishabh Pant, won the toss and gave the match on a platter by electing to bowl first. Delhi didn’t read the wicket perfectly. The new ball came on nicely on the fresh strip and both Conway and Gaikwad once again put on a 100-run partnership for Chennai to score a huge 208/6 in 20 overs.

Capitals batters must have been aware of what is in store as the Delhi bowlers could restrict the run flow once the ball lost its shine. But for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s cameo, Chennai could have finished under 200. But the master tactician read the wicket well to employ Moeen, who struck at the right time to get three wickets in the space of two overs, breaking the backbone of Delhi with wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Rishabh Pant. Dhoni could put no foot wrong on the day as all his changes, including his catching paid off.

Dwayne Bravo, who returned to the squad from the injury, finished with two wickets in two balls to give his team the much-needed triumph.

Warner's indiscretion

Delhi’s slide started when the dangerous opener David Warner paid the price for his indiscretion by going for a reverse sweep when the bowlers were at his mercy. Though the Australian left-hander was not happy with the decision, despite the referral, he should take the entire blame for letting his team down. He is not alone in this as skipper Pant didn’t show the maturity required to lead his team’s chase.

The left-hander, yet to have a big knock this season, played one shot too many only to be bowled by Moeen Ali, who bowled a probing length.

Chennai pacer Simarjeet Singh has been the surprise package with his pace and bounce, testing even the best like Warner. The clinical win must have given Chennai the confidence to push for the improbable, book their place in the playoff. Rule out Chennai at your own peril when they are in this kind of form.

How it happened

Abject surrender by Delhi Capitals

It's only a matter of time before Chennai complete the formalities. Going by the performance the Delhi Capitals have put in this contest, which is a must-win clash for the men in blue, they certainly don’t deserve to be in the playoffs. It’s an abject surrender to Chennai. After 15.2, Capitals, who were 72/2 after 7.3 overs, are 99/8, losing the wickets of Axar Patel, Rovman Powell and Kuldeep Yadav.

Triple strike by Moeen Ali floors Delhi

England all-rounder dismissed both Marsh and Pant off successive overs to silence the stunned Delhi fans. When the partnership was brewing between Marsh and Pant, Dhoni’s master stroke to bring the off spinner immediately yielded the result in the third ball when Marsh tried to clear the long on fence only to find the elevation and not the distance and accepted gleefully by Gaikwad. Next over Pant played the first ball on to his stumps and Ripal Patel, who hit the offie for a big six off the second ball, tried again only to find Conway. Delhi innings in tatters after the quick wickets. After 10 overs, Delhi are 82/5.

Interesting duel brewing between bat and ball

Pant is on fire, showing his intentions clear. The Delhi skipper knows that he has to play a big role today to give his team the win while chasing a big target. He also knows that Delhi’s playoff hopes hinges on the result of this match. It’s not going to be easy, especially against the master tactician Dhoni, who will manipulate all his resources to tighten the screws. With powerplay overs gone, the field is spread, so an interesting duel is brewing between the bat and the ball. After 7 overs, Delhi are 71/2, on target with the run rate, but they have to maintain this along with not losing any more wicket.

A moment of madness costs Warner his wicket

It really beats me. When Warner could play anywhere on the field and decimate a bowling, why would he need to play the reverse sweep. After a majestic drive over the covers off the first ball bowled by Maheesh Theeksana, he tried a reverse sweep off the next and was dismissed leg before. The Australian is important for Delhi’s chase, but now he has deserted the ship early on. Rishabh Pant will now need to continue the chase in the company of Mitchell Marsh. After 5 overs, Delhi are 48/2. The wicket is not coming on nicely and Delhi batters need to take their chances. Pant did exactly that to score three boundaries off his first four deliveries. Positive start for the Delhi skipper.

Honours shared in the first three overs

Both Chennai and Delhi have shared the spoils in the first three overs as Delhi began the chase in the right earnest. While runs are flowing off the bats of David Warner and Shikhar Bharat, Chennai pacer Simarjeet Singh got rid of Bharat. Despite the wicket, Mitchell Marsh comes in an starts getting the scoreboard moving along with Warner, who is in ominous touch, continuing from where he left off in the previous game. After 3 overs, Delhi are 28/1.

Devon Conway’s calculated assault has caught Delhi Capitals by surprise as the defending champions mammoth scored a 208/6 in Match 55 that was hanging in balance after a Covid-19 scare early in the day.

The New Zealand left-hander was severe on spinners and shredded the third-highest wickettaker Kuldeep Yadav to pieces and tarnishing his reputation. When Conway was playing, who is now enjoying the partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad to once again give the Super Kings a blazing start in a match that both sides are desperate to win to keep their hopes alive.

Though Gaikwad was the initial aggressor, he started playing the second fiddle when Conway was unstoppable, playing sweep, reverse-sweep, lofted drives with elegance. The pair put on 110 runs in 11 overs, which set the launchpad for the rest of the batters to take the scoring higher.

But on the contrary, Shivam Dube’s arrival set things back and Delhi bowlers, for the first time after the initial two overs, took control of the match, tightening the things and pulling back the run rate. But Dube found his range against to bring the scoring back on track.

Dhoni's vintage touch

Chennai found the going tough again with the loss of Dube and Conway, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed his vintage touch to take the defending champions past the 200-run mark, which was once easily achievable, with an unbeaten 21.

The final overs gave the impression that the wicket has slowed down, especially when the ball becomes a bit old and strokemaking got a bit difficult, especially when the ball is pitched a bit back of length. Chennai have a good spin strength and with Dwayne Bravo back in the team, his four overs will be crucial in the ground which has a few big square boundaries on one side.

Delhi will depend heavily on the opening partnership, mainly the in-form David Warner. KS Bharat, who had a wonderful season last year at Royal Challengers Bangalore, but has not played any part this year with the new franchise Delhi Capitals gets a chance to prove his mettle.

A good start will set the tone of the match, let’s wait and watch what magic Warner has up his sleeve.

Dhoni once again breaks the shackles of Delhi

Suddenly the runs are drying up for Chennai. After 10 balls, which has cost two wickets and four runs, it’s once again up to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to break the shackles. He didn’t disappoint his fans, hitting a six and four in the second and third balls to take the run rate past the 10-run mark. After 18 overs, Chennai are 183/3.

Conway loses after Shardul’s generous offering

Former Chennai all-rounder Shardul must be feeling bad that his ex-team is struggling to get runs in the last few overs. So he got into a generous mood and started feeding Dube in the slot to concede two sixes and a four to bring back Chennai’s scoring rate on track. But Conway, who was not getting enough strike in the last few overs, tried to scoop the ball over the short fine leg to be out caught behind for a stunning 87. After 16.3 overs, Chennai are 169. With Rayudu coming in, one hopes to see some more big shots.

Run rate slows down for Chennai

It’s 15 overs and Chennai are 148/1. Isn’t it surprising, 26 runs in three overs with nine wickets in hand. Sadly that’s the truth. Shivam Dube, who has returned to the team after missing two games, is not able to maintain the pace and has brought the run rated down. This could cost CSK dear and hold them back from reaching the 200-run mark. Time to move on.

Flood of runs for Chennai despite Gaikwad’s wicket

Runs are coming thick and fast for Chennai, despite the loss of Gaikwad. The Chennai opener got a bit over-ambitious and played a pull off Nortje from outside the off stump, after hitting over the point fence the previous ball. Gaikwad skied the 152.6km ball to short midwicket to be caught by Axar. But Conway is not slowing down. Runs are coming in excess of 10 an over and after 12, Chennai are 122/1. With wickets in hand and good strong batting to come, one can expect the score to go past 200-run mark.

Conway provides the fireworks

Kuldeep Yadav has been shredded to pieces by Conway. In an action replay, the Delhi chinaman bowler kept bowling outside the off stump and Conway targeted him through the cover area for three successive fours with Kuldeep’s second over costing him 16 runs. In the process, Gaikwad and Conway take Chennai to 100 at the halfway stage. More fireworks to come if Delhi fail to get any wicket soon.

Conway gets his third successive half-century

Conway is toying with the Delhi bowling, especially spinners. The New Zealand left-hander hit Axar Patel for 14 in his first over and when Pant brought his ace spinner Kuldeep Yadav, the third highest wickettaker this season, he welcomed him by clobbering him to two sixes and a four for a total of 18 runs. Conway eased his way to third straight half-century, off 27 balls to give Super Kings another great start. After 9 overs, the defending champions are 84/0.

Another 50 partnership for Chennai openers

Gaikwad had struck a brilliant partnership with Faf du Plessis in the past year, when they both finished the top two in the batting charts. However, this year the Pune-born opener was not in his elements until he found Conway. They seemed to have stuck a chord and now he is enjoying the partnership with the New Zealander, which began with a record stand against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. After 6 powerplay overs, Chennai are 57/0, one of the best starts this season. Worry for Pant!

A positive start for Chennai

Openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway have once again started on the right note to take the defending champions to **/0 in 3 overs. These two need to play long before the rest of the batters come and increase the run-rate. Gaikwad has now become a very dangerous customer, as he stepped out to hit Anrich Nortje for a six. A very warm welcome for the South African quick.

Delhi skipper wins toss and elects to field first

Delhi skipper Rishabh Pant wins toss and elects to field against Chennai Super Kings. Axar Patel replaces Lalit Yadav, while Shikar Barat replaces Mandeep Singh. However, in another blow to Chennai’s ambitions, Ravindra Jadeja is unfit and has been ruled out for the clash. Shivam Dube replaces the former Chennai captain, while Dwayne Bravo returns to the team in place of Dwaine Pretorius.

Capitals ready to take on Super Kings

Dubai: Delhi Capitals match against Chennai Super Kings to go as planned at the DY Patil Stadium after a fresh Covid-19 scare threatened to scuttle the teams’ plans in Match 55 of the In-dian Premier League 2022 in Mumbai on Sunday.

A member of the Capitals squad, a net bowler according to several reports in Indian media, tested positive in the morning after which he and his roommate went into isolation. The rest of the players were advised to stay in their rooms until the test reports were announced. Since there were no more positive tests in the latest round of PCR tests, the match has been given the clearance to go ahead, which will start at 6pm UAE time.

“Training done. Now time for action. The DC boys are all set to take on the Super Kings,” Delhi Capitals tweeted on their official team handle.

Delhi suffered the fresh Covid scare only weeks after a couple players, Mitchell Marsh and Tim Seifert, tested positive, with the Australian all-rounder getting admitted to the hospital for treatment. Later, coach Ricky Ponting was also in isolation after one of the family members tested positive, during when the team suffered a few losses.

The former Australian captain admitted to breaking few TV remote controls and throwing a few water bottles to the walls while watching the no-ball controversy between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, when he was in quarantine.

It’s an important game for the Rishabh Pant-led team to win their match against the defending champions to keep their play-off hopes alive after being in fifth spot with 10 points.

Prithvi Shaw hospitalised

Dependable opener Prithvi Shaw, who missed Delhi’s previous clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad, is unlikely to play today after the opener posted a picture of himself on Instagram that he will be back soon. It is learnt that Shaw was suffering from high fever and hence was shifted to the hospital from the hotel.

Chennai Super Kings, who are in ninth spot with six points, desperately need to win this contest as a loss will end their slim, mathematical chances of making it to the play-offs. The Men in yellow must be rueing their narrow 13-run loss against Royal Challangers Bangalore in their pre-vious encounter, but Chennai have been showing a good form, but ending up on the losing side only narrowly.

There have been many positives for the side with opener Devon Conway among the runs for the second successive game and Ravindra Jadeja and Maheesh Theeksana bowling economical spells, with the Sri Lankan spinner getting three wickets.

Warner proves crucial

Delhi opener David Warner proves crucial for his team’s fortunes and Super Kings will be targeting his wicket early to have any hopes of winning the contest. Delhi’s bowling is still a cause for worry as except Kuldeep Yadav, none of the other bowlers have made an impact this season. So if Chennai could restrict Delhi under 170, then the defending champions could fancy their chances.

However, with Delhi coming back on a high after thrashing the likes of Umran Malik in the previous game, it’s advantage Captails, unless Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has an ace up his sleeve to stun them.

The Chennai Super Kings paid a special tribute on the Mother's Day.