The 52nd match of the IPL 2018 saw Delhi Daredevils play host to Chennai Super Kings at the Feroz Shah Kotla. DD is the only team that has been confirmed to be eliminated from the race of playoffs, while CSK sat at the no.2 position in the points table.
Chennai captain MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to chase. CSK left Willey out and brought Ngidi in the team. DD, on the other hand, brought Maxwell and Avesh in for Roy and Dala in the team.
DD had a decent start with Shaw making 17 and Iyer making 19, but Chahar and Ngidi removed both the openers quickly. Rishabh Pant tried to take the attack to the opposition making 38 in 26 balls before Ngidi got him out. Ponting’s mission Maxwell failed again, as Jadeja bowled him for 5 and Thakur removed Abhishek Sharma for 2. Vijay Shankar remained unbeaten on 36* with 2 fours and 2 sixes, while Harshal Patel scored 36* with 4 sixes and 1 four.
Lungi Ngidi was the best CSK bowler with 2/14, while Dwayne Bravo went for 52 runs in his 4 overs. Jadeja also had a good outing with 1/19 in 4 overs.
Shane Watson (14) and Ambati Rayudu (50 in 29 balls; 4x4s, 4x6s) added 46 runs for the first wicket before Mishra removed Watson and Harshal Patel removed Rayudu as soon as he reached his fifty. This brought MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina together on the stage.
But the DD spinners turned the match in their favor using the slowing Kotla pitch. Lamichhane took 1/21 in his 4 overs, while Amit Mishra picked 2/20 in his four to set up the game for their team. Despite MS Dhoni being there in the middle, DD bowlers knew that the rising run rate was too much even for the best finisher ever.
MS Dhoni got out for 17 off 23 balls and Delhi Daredevils registered a brilliant 34 runs win over the second position CSK to give a boost to their morale. Harshal Patel had a very good night with 36* and 1/23 in his 4 overs.
BRIEF SCORES:
DD 162/5 (R PANT 38; L NGIDI 2/14)defeated CSK 128/6 (A RAYUDU 50; A MISHRA 2/20) by 34 runs
