IPL 2021: Match 2, CSK vs DC – Who Said What

The second match of the 14^th season of the Indian Premier League took place between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings and all awaited an interesting affair between the teacher and the student. DC won the game by seven wickets as Rishabh Pant hit the winning runs for his team. Winning the toss, Rishabh Pant invited MS dhoni-led CSK to bat first. The opening stand failed terribly for the CSK but Raina returning in great form became a brilliant sight for fans.

Shikhar Dhawan was declared as the player of the match for his top-class show (85 of 54) against CSK. Raina’s sublime half-century (54 of 36) accompanied by Moeen Ali (36 of 24) and Sam Curran’s (34 of 15) quickfire cameo led Chennai to post a fine total of 188 runs. Chris Woakes and Avesh Khan clinched two wickets each and the latter turned out to be the most economical for DC.

Dhawan-Shaw kept DC on top

Chasing the target at Wankhede Stadium, Prithvi Shaw (72 of 38) and Dhawan appeared in terrific form and wreaked all the havoc on opponents. The majority of the work was already done by the opening pair and Pant(15) chipped in to add some handful runs at the end. Though Shardul Thakur picked two wickets for Chennai, he was hit like anything by the DC batters.

Winning skipper, Rishabh Pant said-

In the middle phase, I was under some pressure. But we did well towards the end. He has been my go to man. I have learnt a lot from him. We were thinking as to what we will do without Nortje and Rabada and I thought we had to do with the options we have. No, there was no effort for the NRR. Prthivi and Shikhar did well for us in the PP. They kept it simple and looked for boundaries.

Losing skipper, MS Dhoni said-

A lot depended on dew, and that factor played on our mind from the start and that’s why we wanted to get as many runs as possible. The batters the did a good job to reach 188, because it was tacky until dew settled in 50 minutes later. We could have bowled slightly better, and if batters are hitting you over the fields, that’s fair enough. The execution of the bowlers was poor and there were boundary balls that they bowled, but the bowlers will have learned and they will apply that in the future games. The opposition have half an hour in a 7:30 start, when the pitch is really tacky and the ball stops a bit, so we need to get 15-20 runs extra to be safe. If we get dew consistently, then 200 will be a must on a pitch like this. The bowlers bowled a great line when it was stopping and seaming a bit, and the openers got really good balls in which they got out and that can happen in a game like this.

Player of the match, Shikhar Dhawan said-

I really enjoyed my batting. Was enjoying the way I was hitting the ball. It was important to get off to a good start because we were chasing a big total. I have to innovate a few shots and I enjoy taking up challenges. I was playing the ball close to the body. The wicket was a little sticky. I knew my game plan. It is tremendous to watch Prithvi. He played some effortless. So good and so happy for him as he didn’t have a good IPL last time around. I liked the Moeen Ali catch the most.