KL Rahul’s score of 77 helped Delhi Capitals to a 25-run victory over the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, maintaining their perfect start in the Indian Premier League.
The Capitals made it three wins from as many matches in this year’s competition, also earning their first victory over the Super Kings in Chennai since 2010.
Losing Jake Fraser-McGurk for a five-ball duck rocked Delhi early in their innings, while a dry pitch that prevented the ball from coming onto the bat also slowed their run rate.
Rahul was barely scoring more than a run a ball by the end of the ninth over, with just two boundaries. But he picked up the pace from there, hitting the IPL’s purple cap holder Noor Ahmad for 20 runs in the space of nine balls.
Ahmad did bowl captain Axar Patel for 21 in the 11th over while Khaleel Ahmed (2-25) added the wicket of Sameer Rizvi (20) to that of Fraser-McGurk, but the big fish evaded Chennai until the start of the final over.
MS Dhoni was waiting when Rahul gloved Matheesha Pathirana’s delivery through to the veteran wicketkeeper, but the opener had already racked up six fours and three maximums in his 51-ball innings.
Ashutosh Sharma was run out from the very next ball, but Tristan Stubbs (24 from 12) ensured DC reached a respectable 183-6.
That target was more than CSK had managed in any of their opening three matches, and early wickets blighted their latest chase as Rachin Ravindra (3) wafted Mukesh Kumar’s ball straight back to the bowler and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (5) fell to Mitchell Starc.
With Vipraj Nigam (2-27) having accounted for Devon Conway (13) and Shivan Dube (18), CSK were 74-5 when Kuldeep Yadav trapped Ravindra Jadeja (2) lbw in the 11th over, though a brave sixth-wicket stand from Dhoni and Vijay Shankar offered Chennai hope.
Shankar hit an unbeaten 69 off 54 balls and Dhoni contributed 30 not out off 26, but the Super Kings were unable to score quickly enough in the face of some disciplined bowling from Starc (1-27) and Mohit Sharma (0-27).
Data debrief: Chennai lacking firepower
The Super Kings have now lost three straight matches after starting their campaign with a four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians.
Their poor run of form has largely been down to a failure to get going with the bat, with 176 their highest total so far this term.
The 84-run partnership between Dhoni and Shankar was CSK’s best sixth-wicket stand in any IPL match, breaking a record formerly held by Michael Hussey and Subramaniam Badrinath (73).
But a lack of top-order runs set them up for failure and it has now been eight years since they have been able to chase a total over 180 in the IPL.
Delhi Capitals still perfect in IPL – Sportsmax
