Shikhar Dhawan rescued Delhi along with Axar Patel to script a fine chase in Sharjah single handily. With yet another win, Delhi moved to the top spot in points table, upstaging Mumbai and Chennai’s road to playoffs is pretty difficult as they have to win at least 4 games out of remaining 5.
Toss: Chennai opted to bat first
Team Changes: Kedar Jadhav comes in (Chennai)
Delhi was unchanged
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Detailed Match Report
Chennai lost Sam Curran on duck in first over, thanks to a compact catch from Nortje. Warson joined Plessis to recover Chennai and the duo added 87 runs before Nortje delivered a breakthrough. Faf got another half-century and Rabada got him out after fine 58. Rayudu showed an aggressive approach with 25-balls 45 and he added quick 50 runs off just 21 balls, courtesy of Jadeja’s 11-balls 33. Chennai got a strong total of 179 in the end.
Prithvi Shaw’s poor show continued against the pace and Deepak Chahar got him out in first over. He got his second after Sam Curran’s brilliant catch of Rahane. Dhawan, on the other side, was picking boundaries and moving the scorecard. He got the support from the skipper and the duo added 67 runs before Bravo got Iyer on 23. Dhawan completed his 3rd consecutive half-century and along with Stoinis, he accelerated the run-rate. Thakur got the breakthrough for Chennai as Stoinis got out on 24. Curran bowled the 19th over exceptionally to leave Delhi requiring 17 runs in final over. Dhawan also got a maiden ton with a single on Curran's last ball. Dhoni tried Jadeja in last over instead of injured Bravo and Axar Patel smashed 21 off just 5 balls to script a fine victory over Chennai.
Star-performer of the match
Shikhar Dhawan is our star performer of the match. After losing Shaw and Rahane, Delhi needed an anchor to carry the innings forward and Dhawan batted with fine strike rate to chase 180 on a challenging surface. The left-hand batsman remained not out on 101, including 14 fours and 1 six.
Top 5 players who made an impact in the game
Faf Du Plessis 58 (47)
Ambati Rayudu 45 (25)
Deepak Chahar 4-1-18-2
Shikhar Dhawan 101 (58)
Jadeja 33 (11)
