IPL 2018: Match 30 CSK vs DD, Review- Chennai weather Pant-Shankar storm to triumph

Chennai Super Kings stuttered during their erstwhile contest against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Pune and wished to stage a comeback at the same venue, this time against the Delhi Daredevils (DD). The wicket at the MCA Stadium seemed to be well knitted, especially for the batsmen and the bowlers were expected to have another tough day at the office.

The CSK batsmen have been in prime form and they smacked the leather and racked up a monstrous score on the board. Delhi lost wickets in clumps and looked all at seas during the first half of their run chase. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant had other ideas and took Delhi closer to the target, but Chennai bowlers ensured that the comfortably win the game by 13 runs.

Watson and Dhoni vandalize Delhi

On a beautiful batting wicket, Shreyas Iyer and Delhi won the toss and elected to chase. The Super Kings had a massive scare in the beginning as Shane Watson survived a close shave against Trent Boult in the very first over when the decision for a leg before wicket went upstairs only for the decision to be upheld. Thereafter, Watson and Faf du Plessis went on a rampage and took the bowlers to the cleaners.

The Queenslander made full use of the early reprieve and started piling on Delhi’s agony and found the boundaries with sheer ease. He brought up his half century in 25 balls with a colossal six off leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia over the square leg region. On the other hand, du Plessis couldn’t match the flow but ensured that the scoreboard was ticking.

The partnership notched 102 runs off 65 balls, which was broken by Vijay Shankar who bowled his second over in this season’s IPL. Glenn Maxwell pinned Chris Lynn the other day and this time around he accounted for Suresh Raina’s wicket. Rayudu, who was demoted to the middle order, joined Watson at the wicket. The duo started to look ominous and added 27 runs off 16 balls.

However, against the run of play, Watson was dismissed by Amit Mishra’s guile. The Aussie all-rounder scored 78 runs, which included seven sixes. MS Dhoni took charge and carried forward his form from the previous game. He scored 51 runs in double quick time and propelled CSKs score to 211 runs in 20 overs. Meanwhile, Rayudu also added a valuable 41 runs off 24 balls.

Pant and Shankar blaze tried hard, but in vain

The target was humungous, but Delhi, against Kolkata Knight Riders has shown that they have the firepower to score those many runs. Prithvi Shaw played a couple of scorching strokes, but KM Asif, who made his debut in the IPL, dismissed him with a short-pitched delivery. Colin Munro, who opened with Shaw, scorched a few boundaries and looked in fabulous touch.

However, Munro mistimed a pull-shot which traced into the palms of Karn Sharma at deep mid-wicket. Shreyas Iyer, who played a match-winning hand against KKR was expected to play a major role in the run chase. To his agony, he got involved in a horrible mix-up with Rishabh Pant, which led to his run-out. A lot depended on Glenn Maxwell, but he disappointed big time.

The Aussie batsman tried to loft Ravindra Jadeja down the ground only to find his stumps shattered. Pant, who came following Munro’s dismissal, looked pretty comfortable at the wicket chipped in with the boundaries and kept pegging away at the target. He scored an impressive half-century in 34 balls, but by then CSK had become the firm favourites as the visitors needed 78 runs off 27 balls.

Vijay Shankar strained during the early part of the innings, which somewhat put additional pressure on Pant. Meanwhile, Pant carried on in his own merry way and tried his heart out to keep Delhi in the hunt. However, Lungi Ngidi got rid of the big fish, which was also the last nail in the coffin of the Daredevils. With the thumping victory, Csk reclaim their top position from the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Here’s what Sehwag tweeted after Lungi took Pant’s wicket

Lungi 1, Pant 0.
But well played Pant !#CSKvDD

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 30, 2018

Brief Scores

Chennai Super Kings: 211/4 in 20 overs; (Shane Watson 78, MS Dhoni 51*; Amit Mishra 1/30, Glenn Maxwell 1/5)

Delhi Daredevils: 198/5 in 20 overs; (Rishabh Pant 79, Vijay Shankar 54*; KM Asif 2/43, Ravindra Jadeja 1/31)

Chennai Super Kings by 13 runs

Player of the Match: Shane Watson