Twitter Reactions: Shikhar Dhawan's masterclass helps DC do the double over CSK in a thrilling chase

It was Shikhar Dhawan's day all the way in Sharjah.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

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2 Min Read

Delhi Capitals
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Delhi Capitals. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

Delhi Capitals (DC) have defeated the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by five wickets to go to the top of the points table in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Shikhar Dhawan was the hero for them who finally got going after wasting so many starts. The southpaw slammed a sensational ton and the heroics from Axar Patel in the final over took DC over the line. With this loss, CSK have no option but to win the rest of the five matches to make it to the playoffs.

After opting to bat first, CSK lost Sam Curran in the first over itself. Tushar Deshpande got the better of him with a brilliant delivery. But it didn’t make much of a difference for the Men in Yellow as the experienced duo of Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson joined hands to stitch up a wonderful stand. One would argue that they were extremely slow in the powerplay overs but they made up for it later.

Du Plessis was brilliant in taking the attack to his South African teammate Anrich Nortje playing a paddle scoop off his first ball and then smashing him for a couple of four overs in the same over. Watson, on the other hand, displayed his power to smack six fours. The 87-run stand was threatening to take the game away from DC. But Nortje hit back well in the second over of his spell to castle the former Australian batsman.

Meanwhile, Du Plessis got to his half-century and got out on 58 to Kagiso Rabada. Shikhar Dhawan took an exceptional catch to start the celebrations in the DC camp. MS Dhoni‘s poor run with the bat continued as CSK looked like finishing at a below-par total in the 17th over at 129/4.

But Ravindra Jadeja came out with the bat like he has the sword in his hands and got an able ally in Ambati Rayudu. DC has been the best team in the death but the duo slammed 50 runs off last 21 balls. Jadeja smacked four sixes in the last 3.3 overs with one of them also landing on the roads of Sharjah. He ended on 33* of just 13 balls while Rayudu also played a super hand to stay unbeaten on 45 off 25 as CSK ended on 179/4 in 20 overs.

Shikhar Dhawan leads the chase for DC

The 180-run target was more than a decent one and the Capitals needed a good start. But Prithvi Shaw pushed one back to the bowler Deepak Chahar in the first over to get out without troubling the scorers. Shikhar Dhawan though got the team off to a good start with a flurry of boundaries. Ajinkya Rahane came out to bat at three and couldn’t do much once again.

His cracking drive was snapped by the sensational Sam Curran to send him back at 8. Shreyas Iyer then played a good hand giving Dhawan most of the strike. The 68-run stand saw him score only 23 runs at run-a-ball and he finally mishit one with the required run-rate constantly staying around 10. Iyer got out in the 12th over which made things interesting.

Meanwhile, it was Dhawan’s day with the bat as luck favoured him too. The southpaw was dropped on three occasions including one from MS Dhoni and he made the opposition pay. Dhawan was literally toying with the CSK bowlers and their field shuffling around the crease. He played some eye-catching strokes which reminded of the old Dhawan who used to just thump bowlers with the disdain.

But even then, the required run-rate stayed around 10 due to the constant fall of wickets and it all came down to 20 runs off the last two overs. Sam Curran was entrusted with the crucial penultimate over and he didn’t disappoint his skipper bowling to the plan. He conceded only four runs in the over to bring it down to 17 off the last over. With Dwayne Bravo not on the field, Dhoni had to go to Ravindra Jadeja with two left-handers in the middle.

In the penultimate over though Dhawan got to his maiden IPL ton off 57 deliveries and didn’t celebrate as he knew he had to finish the game. Surprisingly enough, Dhawan wasn’t needed in the final as Axar Patel took the care of scoring the runs and ending unbeaten on 21 off 5 balls. Delhi Capitals got over the line in a thriller of a chase and also jumped to the top of the points table.

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