Dubai, Oct 4 (Agency) Delhi Capitals made a meal of what should’ve been an easier chase, but got over the line in the end to take another step towards a top-two finish. After a rare Ruturaj Gaikwad failure, CSK just didn’t have the batting impetus to impose themselves, crashing and burning their way to 136/5. A middle-overs wobble saw Delhi Capitals nearly throw the game away, before Shimron Hetymer and Axar Patel fought it out. CSK dragged the chase all the way to a dramatic final over, but Kagiso Rabada ended any hopes of a late heist with flick to the fine leg for the winning runs with two balls to spare.
The Delhi Capitals top-order struggled to keep Shikhar Dhawan company, consistently giving CSK a way back from an unfavourable position. Deepak Chahar once again proved to be Prithvi Shaw’s nemesis – seeing the back of him for the seventh time in IPL. Shaw got a touch too adventurous trying to get on top of his duel against a familiar adversary, and ended up miscuing a heave to Du Plessis at mid-off. Though Dhawan was intent on dragging the game away swiftly, Iyer’s early dismissal meant DC had a very similar PowerPlay to CSK.
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 136/5 in 20 overs (Ambati Rayudu 55, Robin Uthappa 19; Axar Patel 2-18, Ravichandran Ashwin 1-20); Delhi Capitals 139/7 in 19.4 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 39, Shimron Hetmyer 28*; Shardul Thakur 2-13, Ravindra Jadeja 2-28).