IPL 2019, Match 5, DC vs CSK : 3 Reasons why CSK won the match

Chennai Super Kings continued their winning momentum in the second game of the IPL as well by defeating the Delhi Capitals, who had won their first game against Mumbai Indians. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat first on a pretty slow Kotla wicket. Both teams were playing with only three overseas players in their respective playing XIs.

Batting first, Delhi Capitals scored slowly but steadily in the initial overs. A collapse towards the end didn’t give them the perfect finish as they ended with a score of 147-6. Dwayne Bravo was brilliant at the death with his slower balls as he ended up with figures of 4-0-33-3. Chasing 148, CSK were off to a flier as Suresh Raina and Shane Watson took on the bowlers in the powerplay. They knew that it would be difficult for the batsmen to score when the spinners come on so they capitalised on the pacers.

Once Watson and Raina departed, it was M.S. Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav’s turn to finish the game and they did it successfully. CSK now sit at the top of the table with two wins in two games whereas DC would be disappointed that they lost a home game. So, let’s have a look at the three reasons as to why CSK won the match.

1. Good death bowling by the CSK bowlers

Dwayne Bravo

Delhi Capitals were in a good position when Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant were batting and the score read 118-2 after 15 overs. It seemed as if DC would make a strong finish and put up a total close to 165-170. But Bravo had different plans. Bravo, who went for 17 runs in his first over, made a stunning comeback as he picked up the key wickets off Pant and Ingram in his next over. He gave away just four runs in his second over.

DC lost all the momentum after losing two wickets in that Bravo over. In the next over Jadeja removed Keemo Paul’s stumps to put DC in deeper trouble. Bravo came again for his third over and dismissed the well-set Shikhar Dhawan for 50. After his dismissal, DC didn’t have many batsmen left and they weren’t able to score many runs in the last few overs as DC ended their innings on 147-6.

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2. CSK were off to a flier

Watson and Raina

Chasing 148, the CSK batsmen knew that it would get difficult when the spinners would come on and so they decided to maximise the powerplay. Even though the lost the early wicket of Ambati Rayudu, Raina and Watson took on the bowlers as CSK scored 58 runs in the first six overs. Ishant Sharma, who had got rid off Ambati Rayudu in his second over, was smashed for 18 runs in his third over as Raina hit three consecutive boundaries.

Watson and Raina set the perfect platform for the upcoming batsmen as the required run-rate was brought down below seven. After the powerplay, Watson smashed Mishra for two sixes in an over but got dismissed in the same over for 44 off 26 balls. The smart tactics from CSK to get off to a flier was one of the main reasons as to why they could chase the given total.

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3. Perfect Finish by MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav

MS Dhoni

Once Shane Watson and Suresh Raina set up the platform for the other batsmen, it was up to Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav to finish off the game, and they didn’t disappoint the Chennai fans. We have seen many times these two finishing games in the Indian colours and they did the same for CSK last night.

The top order had brought down the required rate below six and it was a situation which was favourable for both Dhoni and Jadhav. Both batsmen initially took their time and at one point it seemed as if the match might slip from CSK’s hands, but Dhoni had the game covered. He targeted the right bowlers at the right time and chased down the total in the last over.

The 48 run partnership between Jadhav and Dhoni were Dhoni scored 32 off 35 balls was key for CSK’s second win of this IPL season.

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