Watson, Dhoni muscle CSK to the top
Super Kings blast their third 200-plus score and then see their young fast bowlers Ngidi and Asif impress in their sixth win of the tournament
Super Kings blast their third 200-plus score and then see their young fast bowlers Ngidi and Asif impress in their sixth win of the tournament
Commentator: Akshay Gopalakrishnan
11.35pm CSK made it hard on themselves, thanks to a combination of some shoddy bowling and fielding - which saw Dhoni in a rare animated form - and excellent batting by Vijay Shankar. But at the end of it, CSK have bounced back after one bad game and risen to the top of the table. But once again, it's CSK's batting that has bailed them out. They may be top, but they need to address these death-overs bowling. The batting can't keep bailing them out. All it takes is one match for the batting unit to fail, and if that turns out to be a knockout match, it's curtains.
"Too many runs on the board. Losing four wickets had a massive impact," says Shreyas Iyer. "We got really close, which is a positive we can take into the next match. We need to win six out of six, which is the only motivation we can take into the remaining games. We are really effective in home games, and if we can keep the team stable, that should serve us well."
Ram Chandran: "Deep down in my heart I always felt that Lungi will be a perfect fit for the CSK !!!!"
Kapil: "Rahul Tewatia, hope Delhi make proper use of him as a bowler and not send him to bat at crucial times. 3 off 4, not done. Need 6 hitters from ball 1. Plunkett could have got couple of boundaries"
Time for presentations.
"It's quite bad, but nothing much can be done because there's not much of a resting period," says CSK captain MS Dhoni. "I haven't been training much because of that. T20 is not much workload, so it's manageable. It's very important for us to get off to a good start, not necessarily in terms of runs, but even a good partnership, and I can promote myself and come out at No. 5. It's more fun when you go into the 8th and 10th overs and the bowler doesn't know when you will go for the big runs. Looking at the wicket, we thought we'll get an overseas batsman in. We thought Sam needed a bit of rest. Having Rayudu in the middle and Faf open gives more stability to the middle order. And Rayudu can score runs at any position, so that was the best decision. Ngidi has been impressive since South Africa. He's tall and gets bounce. Death bowling hasn't been good, and if we reach the finals, which will be held in small grounds, the margin for error is very small."
Shane Watson is Man of the Match. "I needed to try and help the team a bit more with the bat, and it's good to do that, especially against a bowling line-up like Delhi's," he says. "I got a few balls to get myself going. It was nice to get a few off the middle. At this stage of my career, to get the opportunity to play in a wonderful tournament like the IPL is great. MS is hitting the ball as well as he ever has."
Elvis Joseph: "Time to drop Faf permanently? He struggled to hit the ball in the gaps and was just wandering around at Long Off"
Bhavin: "It's batting heavy CSK and bowling heavy SRH sitting at the top of the table."
Nitesh: "Delhi still doesnt seem to know their playing 11. after Maxwell there is nothing much to come. Shankar. Okay he played well, but doesnt strike fear in Bowlers heart. They need someone of that character. Also their Bowling is too weak. Need to shuffle the pack and get the balance right."
Alright then, that's a wrap of this game. CSK going as strong as ever, and continue to surprise everyone. Or is it even surprising anymore? Anyway, on that note, it's goodnight and goodbye from me, Akshay Gopalakrishnan, signing out on behalf of myself and Deiva. Thanks for your company, and see you all tomorrow!
For a week, the South Africa quick warmed the bench. Then he flew home after his father's demise. Upon return, he tied down Delhi Daredevils' batting line-up
Super Kings blast their third 200-plus score and then see their young fast bowlers Ngidi and Asif impress in their sixth win of the tournament
In a blow to Super Kings' bowling attack, pacer Deepak Chahar is out for at least two weeks with a hamstring injury