Delhi Capitals had to fight hard to get to the finish line against Chennai Super Kings in Dubai on Monday, 4 October. Chasing a target of 137, DC managed to go over the line by 3 wickets in the last over with Shimron Hetmyer acting as the saviour for the Delhi based side. The Capitals didn’t really start off the chase well and kept losing wickets at regular intervals to get reduced to 99/6 after Shardul Thakur removed Ravichandran Ashwin and Shikhar Dhawan in the 15th over.
Dhawan was looking steady at one end but constantly lost partners at the other and was eventually undone for 39 off 35. While DC were in a spot of bother Shimron Hetmyer had other plans as he took the onus on himself and chipped in with an important 28* off 18.
Delhi needed 6 off the last over and got 4 in the first two deliveries. Dwayne Bravo who was bowling this final over then picked up the wicket of Axar Patel on the third ball getting the equation down to 2 off 3. Kagiso Rabada who had replaced Axar in the middle scored a boundary to take the team home.
Shardul was the pick of the bowlers who returned with figures of 2/13 in 4 overs for CSK.
Earlier, CSK struggled with the bat and could only manage to put 136/5 in 20 overs on the board. While none of the batsmen got into the groove, Ambati Rayudu once again showed his skills and notched up an unbeaten half-century.
Axar returned with a couple of wickets at the cost of 18 runs in 4 overs for DC while Ashwin picked up one wicket for 20 runs in 4 overs.
CSK captain MS Dhoni said that the side was eyeing a total around 150 but failed to accelerate in the middle overs. “We were looking to get closer to 150. After we lost a few wickets, around the 15-16th over mark the platform was nice. We failed to accelerate. I thought it was a tough pitch. Anything close to 150 would've been a good score,” he said during the post-match presentation.
DC skipper Rishabh Pant admitted that the side made it a tough game for themselves. “Not a birthday present, was a tough match, we made it tough for ourselves. In the end, if we win everything is fine. In the powerplay, they came hard and got away. After that we bowled some good overs. In the end, they got away with some extra runs,” he said.
Experts’ Opinion
Commentator Harsha Bhogle lavished praise on Shimron Hetmyer after the left-hander steadied the ship during a crunch situation. “So Hetmyer today for Delhi Capitals . They have match-winners strewn everywhere. Looking very good,” he tweeted.
Journalist Ayaz Memon praised the way DC held their nerves and got over the line. “Exciting match. DC hold nerve and squeeze through to important win. Gowtham dropping sitter of Hetmyer gave decisive twist after CSK had fought back superbly defending low score. DC now finish in top 2,” he wrote on Twitter.
MS Dhoni hasn’t really been among the runs in this edition of the IPL and former India bowler pointed out the same and suggested that the wicket-keeper batsman needs to get back in form. “CSK need Dhoni to comeback to form sooner rather than later. DC is the team to beat this year,” he tweeted.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra pointed out that the collapse that DC witnessed during the chase. “DC are forming a habit of messing things up in their batting department…a habit might cost them in the playoffs. Winning games but hardly as convincing as they should be,” he wrote on Twitter.
CSK will now play Punjab Kings on Thursday while DC will be up against RCB on Friday in Dubai.