Mike Hussey scored 65 not out and Mohit Sharma took 3-10 as the Chennai Super Kings obliterated the Delhi Daredevils by 86 runs in the Pepsi Indian Premier League clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Thursday.
The Daredevils were bundled out for just 83 in the 18th over, in reply to the Super Kings’ 169 for four, after MS Dhoni had won the toss and elected to bat first.
Hussey starred with the bat for Chennai, facing just 50 balls with six fours and two sixes and shared in a third-wicket partnership of 74 off just 41 balls with Dhoni, that setup the challenging total. Hussey and Murali Vijay started off the innings sedately before Vijay (18) was trapped lbw by Morne Morkel (4-0-42-1) in the fifth over.
Suresh Raina (30) then joined Hussey at the crease and the pair added 60 for the second wicket off 52 deliveries. Raina faced 32 balls in his innings, striking five boundaries, but struggled to rotate the strike. Once Raina was dismissed by Irfan Pathan (4-0-30-1), the Super Kings began increasing their run-rate with Dhoni at the crease.
Dhoni struck his first ball for four, which set the tone for his innings, while Hussey quietly accumulated his runs from the other end. Hussey took 41 balls to bring up his half centry, with a quick taken single to mid-off. Dhoni eventually holed out to Jeevan Mendis on the square-leg boundary off Umesh Yadav (4-0-35-1) in the final over as he looked to clear the boundary.
The Daredevils’ reply was stopped before it even began with Sharma claiming two wickets in his first over, the second of the innings. First he had David Warner (1) playing a ball onto his stumps, then three balls later he trapped Manprit Juneja (2) in front to leave the hosts on 13 for two.
Chris Morris (1-13) then got in on the act, trapping the captain, Mahela Jayawardene (6), in front off the last ball of the fifth over. The first ball of the sixth over created even more drama for the home side as the big-hitting Virenda Sehwag (17) was caught on the square-leg boundary by Hussey off Sharma. Delhi were down and out on 30 for four.
The highest partnership of the Delhi innings was between Mendis (12) and Kedar Jadhav (31), as the pair added 31 off 32 balls. But as has been the case for the hosts all season, they continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.
The ‘spin-twins’ of Ravindra Jadeja (1-21) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2-18) tied the Delhi batsmen up in knots, as the pair combined for figures of 8-0-39-3. Albie Morkel, after conceding nine runs in his first over, ended with 1-13 in three overs with Dwayne Bravo, who picked up three catces, claiming the final wicket to end the misery for Delhi.
The Daredevils have now lost six consecutive matches, and are rooted to the foot of the IPL table. With 10 matches remaining in the group stage, Delhi will have to win at least eight of these if they are to have any hope of reaching the playoffs.
This victory has given Chennai their third victory of the season, and a good morale boosting one after their shock loss to the Pune Warriors a few days back.
DELHI DAREDEVILS: V Sehwag, DA Warner, DPMD Jayawardene (capt), MC Juneja, KM Jadhav (wk), BMAJ Mendis, IK Pathan, AB Agarkar, M Morkel, S Nadeem, UT Yadav
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: M Vijay, MEK Hussey, SK Raina, S Badrinath, RA Jadeja, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), DJ Bravo, JA Morkel, CH Morris, R Ashwin, MM Sharma
