(Source: IPL)Defending Champions Chennai Super Kings scripted a victory in the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League Season 12 against Delhi Capitals to make it to the final where they meet Mumbai Indians to fight for the ultimate glory. MS Dhoni’s side won by six wickets in Visakhapatnam on Friday, putting an end to Delhi Capitals’ brilliant campaign this season.
Toss: Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first against Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League in Vishakapatnam on Friday. While Delhi fielded an unchanged Playing XI, CSK made one change in their line-up by replacing Murali Vijay with Shardul Thakur.
The @ChennaiIPL win the toss and elect to bowl first against the @DelhiCapitals.#CSKvDC pic.twitter.com/7WlkVS5yge
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 10 May 2019
First innings: Defending champions CSK bowlers produced another clinical performance as they restricted Delhi for 147/9 in 20 overs. Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, and Harbhajan Singh picked two wickets each to keep Delhi in check after opting to bowl.
Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Capitals.The Delhi unit got off to a poor start as they lost openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw inside three overs. Skipper Shreyas Iyer also couldn’t contribute much as he was sent back by Imran Tahir on 13. Rishabh Pant was the standout batsman for Delhi as he scored 38 off 25 balls, which included two boundaries and one six.
Roar whistles for the super duper bowling effort to restrict DC to 147! #WhistlePodu #Yellove #CSKvDC 💛🦁 pic.twitter.com/y5YYEknGvU
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) 10 May 2019
Second innings: The second innings began with a lot of confusion, a narrow escape for Chennai openers and a flurry of errors by Delhi fielders. Shane Watson (50 off 32) and Faf du Plessis (50 off 39) not only managed to survive the number of throws but their half-centuries set the foundation for the defending champions’ chase. The match turned slow after both the openers were dismissed, with a bit of a blip in the middle order before Bravo finished things off.
Suresh Raina (11) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (9) got out cheaply but Ambati Rayudu (2 not out) remained at the crease to ensure a comfortable win for the three-time champions.
Cometh the Watto! Truly deserves all the #Yellove, Keep them coming! #WhistlePodu #Yellove #CSKvDC 💛🦁 pic.twitter.com/w5DDzVUqrr
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) 10 May 2019
Gamechanger: While the Chennai bowlers gave a clinical performance after opting to bowl, restricting a resurgent Delhi to just 147 runs, the credit for gamechanger goes to the openers Watson and Du Plessis, who combined for 81 runs. Du Plessis was the aggressor among the duo, with seven boundaries and one six while Watson played the second fiddle initially. After Du Plessis’ dismissal, Watson took the centre stage and struck Paul for one four and three sixes to pile up 25 runs off the 12th over.
Chennai play Mumbai Indians in the final. (Source: AP)Captains speak:
DC Skipper Shreyas Iyer: “We didn’t have as many runs as we expected. Had a disappointing start in the Powerplay and we knew that they have good spinners, so it got tough. We thought the wicket would help us as we played a game already over here but none of the batsmen took the responsibility to bat through. There were no partnerships. Good learning for us. It’s something to think about. Home games didn’t go that well for us. We can’t complain though. Have practised a lot for such surfaces but preparing at Delhi on those tracks are risky due to uneven bounce. Can’t blame pitches at the end of the day because we were professional cricketers. Looking at the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma leading their teams and also standing with them at the toss, I have been fortunate to learn things. As captain, I am glad about the support of the owners and the management. There is pressure as you have to be involved in lot of decisions. Totally proud of my team, we did really well to come this far. Been a dream season for us and this is just a start. Time to grow further.”
Confusion in the middle, but no run-out. (Source: IPL)CSK Skipper MS Dhoni: “It’s the usual route, last year was an exception. You’ll go for runs, miss a few catches, but it’s important to come back strong. Th e way we batted to chase down 140+ was really nice. That’s what the 7:30 start does, the groundstaff feel obliged to water it, and it’s a little tacky initially. The bowling effort was brilliant, and we kept it in the right areas, not allowing Delhi to get a big score. It’s important to get their openers out – their batting line-up is really strong and they have many left-handers and we have a left-arm spinner to negate them. The ground is a little small, so it is important for them to keep getting wickets. I think the credit needs to go to the spinners, the captain only asks them that I will use you at this point of time. Experience counts, but they have to do the hard yards to stay fit for 45-50 days. We are happy we haven’t had many injuries and thanks to the bowling department for that – we are here because of them. I would have preferred the openers to get a few more runs. If the openers had stayed and done the finishing after the hard yards, that would have been better, but I’m happy to take the win anyway.”
Brief Score: Delhi Capitals: 147 for nine in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 38; Dwayne Bravo 2/19, Ravindra Jadeja 2/23, Deepak Chahar 2/28, Harbhajan Singh 2/31).
Chennai Super Kings: 151 for four in 19 overs (Faf du Plessis 50, Shane Watson 50; Trent Boult 1/20).
