IPL 2018, DD vs CSK: 3 Chennai players who performed poorly against Delhi

Delhi Daredevils clashed against Chennai Super Kings at the iconic Feroz Shah Kotla on Friday night. Put into bat first on a slow wicket, Delhi Daredevils at one stage were struggling at 5-97 in 14.4 overs.

But the resurgence came from Vijay Shankar and Harshal Patel who put up a match-winning partnership of 65 runs for the 6th wicket in 32 deliveries. Both the batsman ended up 36 not out and it propelled Delhi to a competitive score of 162/5 in their allocated 20 overs.

In reply CSK got off to a good start by scoring 44 runs in the powerplay without losing a wicket. This was largely due to Ambati Rayudu who scored 22 of the 6th over which was bowled by Avesh Khan.

However, post the power-play, CSK kept losing wickets at regular intervals and some excellent bowling by the Delhi bowlers ensured that CSK fell short of the target by 34 runs.

Although this result doesn’t affect the table standings but it will be a huge boost for Delhi Daredevils as they would carry this momentum to the game against Mumbai and would want to end their season on a winning note.

CSK, who are currently placed at number 2 position have a lot to think with regards to their death bowling, that has been very poor in the last few games.

In a game that had some great performances and some poor ones, let us look at 3 CSK players who had a terrible outing against DD tonight.

---

#3 MS Dhoni

It is very rare to see MS Dhoni having a bad day at the office and today was the day. Firstly with regards to his captaincy, his tactics failed miserably. Delhi were struggling at 118/5 in 17 overs and Dhoni handed the ball to Dwayne Bravo to bowl the 18th over.

This over yielded 12 runs and Delhi had a sniff in reaching the magical figure of 150. It was evident that Dwayne Bravo was not his 100 percent and that he was struggling with his slower ball variations.

Despite having 1 over of Lungi Ngidi and Deepak Chahar left in the bank, Dhoni opted for Dwayne Bravo for the final over of the innings. The last over yielded 26 runs with 4 huge sixes and the momentum completely shifted towards Delhi Daredevils as they reached a competitive score of 162/5.

Ambati Rayudu laid the platform for the chase and it was upto Dhoni and Suresh Raina to take CSK home. Dhoni came out to bat when the required rate was 9.30.

He looked in good touch when he smashed a wide delivery from Glenn Maxwell through backward point region but since that boundary, he got bogged down. Amit Mishra tied up Dhoni in the 13th and 15th overs and the required rate shot up to 14.50 with 58 required off 24 balls.

On a slow pitch, MS couldn’t find the timing and the boundary when required and he was eventually dismissed off the bowling of Trent Boult as he was caught at long off. His knock of 17 lasted 23 balls with only 1 boundary. This was certainly a bad day at the office for the skipper of Chennai Super Kings.

#2 Shane Watson

Watson's slow innings piled the pressure on the middle-order batsmen

Chasing a target of 163, Chennai Super Kings required a good start from the openers. But due to some tight bowling by Delhi Daredevils, the first 5 overs could yield only 22 runs. Shane Watson struggled to put bat to ball and he had a torrid time at the crease.

The Australian struggled to get any timing and he scored at a strike rate of 60.86. On a slow pitch where the batsmen needed to improvise a little, Shane Watson was stuck at his crease and swung his bat wildly at the ball, which resulted in more misses than hits.

His only scoring shot was a six over deep mid-wicket boundary off the bowling of Trent Boult. He was finally dismissed off the bowling of Amit Mishra when he was caught at deep long off region.

His slow innings (14 of 23) not only shot up the required run rate but also made it tough for the middle order batsmen who struggled to keep up with the run rate on a slow pitch.

This innings by Shane Watson has to be one of the flops of the match for CSK.

#1 Dwayne Bravo

Bravo's last over gave Delhi the momentum

Safe to say, Dwayne Bravo was the biggest flop of the match. His last over not only helped Delhi Daredevils cross the 160 mark but also swung the game towards them. Delhi Daredevils were struggling at 136/5 by the end of 19 overs and even 145 looked tough to reach.

But Dwayne Bravo had other ideas as he pitched up half-volleys and slower deliveries that were right in the slot to be hit. Lower order batsman Vijay Shankar and Harshal Patel made full use of it and smashed him for 5 sixes, which included 4 sixes of the final over.

Dwayne Bravo failed to pull off the yorker, which in turn ended up as half volleys. He also conceded the most expensive final over in his IPL career by giving 26 runs. His overall bowling figures read 4-0-52-0. He was hit for 5 sixes and 1 boundary while bowling 2 wides and only 4 dot balls.

---

Our tournament homepage has IPL live score, Match Analysis, Detailed Stats, Fantasy Tips, Controversies, Match Predictions and much more. Bookmark it now!