Delhi Capitals registered their first win of the season with a thumping 20-run triumph against Chennai Super Kings in the 13th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 on Sunday.
Rishabh Pant and David Warner scored quick fifties to help the Capitals post 191 total and then Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar bowled impressive spells to restrict the defending champions to 171.
Playing their first home game at Visakhapatnam's ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Delhi added Prithvi Shaw to their playing eleven while Ishant Sharma replaced injured Kuldeep Yadav. Chennai started with the same eleven that recorded a huge win over Gujarat Titans in the last match.
Delhi ended their woes at the top order as Warner and Shaw added 93 for the first wicket inside the first ten overs. David Warner recorded a brilliant fifty while Shaw added 43 off just 27 balls on his return. Chennai managed to make a comeback with Matheesha Pathirana clinching a stunning catch to dismiss Warner in the tenth over and then Jadeja dismissed Shaw in the following over.
Pathirana then bowled out Micthell Marsh and Tristan Stubbs with sensational yorker deliveries in the 15th over to put CSK back in the game. But Delhi managed to post a big total of 191/5 with Rishabh Pant scoring his first fifty of the season.
Chasing a big total, Chennai's in-form openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra failed against Khaleel Ahmed's startling first spell. Khaleel removed Gaikwad in the first over and then ended Rachin's struggling innings in the third over to give Delhi early control.
Experienced batter Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell added 68 runs for the third wicket to stage CSK's comeback. Axar Patel gave Delhi their third success with Micthell's wicket in the 11th over but Rahane kept Chennai alive by top-scoring with 45 off just 30 balls.
Mukesh Kumar then changed the game in the 14th over with two big wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Sameer Rizvi's. Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja struggled to keep the required run rate under control in the closing stage with the former scoring 18 off 17 balls.
Chasing 72 runs in the last four overs, MS Dhoni walked to bat for the first time this season and gave his best by smashing 37* off 16 balls with the help of three big sixes. Jadeja scored 21* off 17 as Chennai were restricted to 171/6 in their first defeat of the season.
Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana (substituted by Shivam Dube), Mustafizur Rahman.
Delhi Capitals Playing XI: Prithvi Shaw (substituted by Rasikh Salam), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed.
