Prithvi Shaw and MS Dhoni
Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw stitched a 138-run stand to power Delhi Capitals to a comprehensive seven-wicket win against Chennai Capitals on Saturday. Chasing a 188-run total, Dhawan smashed 85 off 54 balls and Shaw amassed 72 in just 38 deliveries.
While the Dhawan-Shaw pair seemed unstoppable on the day, the Chennai bowlers looked rather ineffective. CSK skipper MS Dhoni also admitted that the three-time champions could've bowled 'slightly' better as dew played a vital role during the course of play.
"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 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," said Dhoni in the post-match presentation.
Dhoni, whose return to competitive cricket was a forgetful one, also said that his side needed to notch up 15 or 20 runs more to be on the safe side. Trying to pull a delivery to the mid-wicket boundary, Dhoni fell to a second-ball duck off the bowling of young pacer Avesh Khan.
"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. Their (Delhi) 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," he concluded.
