IPL 2018, DD vs CSK: Hits and Misses

With Chennai Super Kings having already qualified for the playoffs and Delhi Daredevils certain to finish with the wooden spoon, this game was a dead-rubber. MS Dhoni won the toss and put the hosts into bat first.

Prithvi Shaw got a run-a-ball 17 and was dismissed by Deepak Chahar. Rishabh Pant, batting at No. 3, joined his skipper Shreyas Iyer in the middle in the 5th over and the duo shared a 54-run stand but both of them were dismissed by Lungi Ngidi in the space of 3 deliveries. From 78/1, DD slipped to 97/5 and it needed a 16-ball cameo from Harshal Patel to take them past 160.

Chasing 163, Ambati Rayudu once again led CSK’s reply as he struck another excellent half-century.

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#5 Hit: Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel was very good with the bat as his knock helped DD post a competitive total.

Harshal Patel has had an interesting season so far. He’s played only 3 games (before today) and took 3 wickets. He had a couple of decent outings with the ball before he was taken apart by RCB. Interestingly, he was also promoted to bat at No. 5 in the game against SRH.

In this game, he came out to bat at No. 7 but DD were under pressure as they had lost their last 4 wickets for just 19 runs. At 97/5, it did seem like DD would end up with a below par total, but Harshal Patel’s breezy 16-ball 36 helped DD get to 162.

He started sedately as he scored 7 off his first 6 deliveries before getting stuck into Dwayne Bravo. Patel hit the West Indian all-rounder for 4 sixes in the span of two overs which gave DD the momentum at the end.

He was good with the ball too. He picked up the wicket of the in-form Ambati Rayudu and he was excellent at the death, finishing with figures of 1/23 in his 4 overs. It was an excellent day for the 27-year-old pacer.

#4 Miss: Dwayne Bravo

MS Dhoni has trusted Bravo to get the job done at the death but the latter has failed to stand up this season.

In what has been an excellent campaign so far for CSK, Dwayne Bravo’s form has been a cause for concern. He’s been expensive throughout the season and has leaked runs in quite a few games. In fact, he’s gone wicketless in 4 out of the last 6 games.

Thus, in the last couple of games, Dhoni has been trying to bring Bravo into the attack early. Once again, in this game, Bravo was introduced early (in the 9th over). He started well as he gave away 14 runs in his first two overs. But his two overs at the back end were very expensive. He bowled the 18th and 20th over and conceded 12 and 26 runs respectively.

In that 20th over, Bravo was hit for 4 sixes and it helped DD go past the 160-run mark. He finished with figures of 0/52 in his 4 overs and it was another game where he failed to execute his plans at the death this season.

#3 Hit: Lungi Ngidi

Lungi Ngidi who sat out in the last few games came up was brilliant as he took 2/14.

Lungi Ngidi made a good start to his IPL career and took 3 wickets in as many games. However, he was dropped as CSK wanted to give David Willey a go. But the England left-arm seamer had poor returns and hence, the South African speedster came back in the XI in this game against DD.

CSK who had opted to bowl first started well as Deepak Chahar gave just 5 off his first over. Ngidi shared the new ball with the uncapped Indian pacer and backed up the good start, giving just 2 runs. It was surprising not to see him bowl another over in the powerplay after that good start.

But he came back in the 11th over and turned the game. DD were going really well with Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer looking comfortable at the crease. However, Ngidi came in and removed both the batsmen and completely turned the momentum. Iyer was bowled out as he was beaten for pace while Pant was out caught at third-man after he got a leading edge trying to hoick one over mid-wicket.

Ngidi didn’t bowl out but was brilliant throughout the game as he finished with figures of 2/14 in his 3 overs.

#2 Miss: Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer failed to get going and was out bowled by Lungi Ngidi.

Shreyas Iyer was made the captain of the Delhi Daredevils mid-way through the season after Gautam Gambhir decided to step down. The captaincy brought greater responsibility with the bat and he responded really well. But in the last few games, he’s been disappointing.

He did score 32 in the last game but took 35 deliveries for it. In this game, he walked out to open the batting and he once again struggled to get going. He couldn’t rotate strike freely as despite scoring 3 boundaries in his 22-ball knock, he could only manage 19. He was castled by Lungi Ngidi as the DD skipper fell trying to back away and play the cut.

It was not a great outing for the DD skipper as his wicket also was the start to a mini-collapse. DD slipped from 78/1 to 97/5 after his dismissal.

#1 Hit: DD leg-spinners

Amit Mishra picked up the wickets of Shane Watson and Sam Billings.

DD spinners have had a quite disappointing season so far. Before today, the spinners had taken 22 wickets combined (which includes 5 from Glenn Maxwell).

However, Amit Mishra who was dropped in the early stages of the tournament has looked in decent rhythm in the last few games. And the 17-year-old leggie from Nepal Sandeep Lamichhane was very good in the only game he played. In this game, the leg-spin duo spun a web around the CSK batsmen as the two bowled excellently in the middle-overs.

They built pressure with vital dot balls and also picked up three wickets between them. They finished with combined figures of 3/41 in 8 overs. Mishra was brilliant as he varied his pace nicely while Sandeep bowled tight lines and didn’t allow the batsmen to get away.

Hence, it was their spell that might have turned the game in DD’s favour in the middle-overs.

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