Daredevils victory throws open race to top

Chennai Super Kings will eye the top spot on the points table when they face bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils in a dead rubber Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Friday.

Delhi Daredevils restored some pride with an upset 34-run win over the formidable Chennai Super Kings in a dead rubber of the Indian Premier League Friday.

Vijay Shankar (36* off 29) and Harshal Patel (36* off 16) scripted Daredevils' recovery after a pedestrian performance from the top-order, helping the hosts reach 162 for five with an unbeaten 65-run stand off 32 balls.

Leg-spinners Amit Mishra (2/20) and Sandeep Lamichhane (1/21) then starred in an impressive bowling effort that restricted CSK to 128 for six. All-rounder Patel chipped in with the ball as well by taking the prized wicket of Ambati Rayudu (50 off 29).

It was Daredevils' fourth win of the season in 13 games. The already eliminated team has one more game to play on Sunday. The unexpected loss was CSK's fifth in 13 matches and they remain second on the points table. 

CSK were cautious to begin with, collecting just 22 runs off the first five overs.

Rayudu cut loose in the following over, smashing pacer Avesh Khan for 22 runs courtesy three sixes and a four.

Rayudu, the team's leading run scorer with 585 runs at 48.75, maintained his rich vein of form with his third fifty of the season. He departed the very next ball to leave CSK at 70 for two in 10 overs, needing 93 off the last 60 balls.

Suresh Raina (15 off 18), dropped by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant on the first ball he faced, did not make it count as Nepal spinner Lamichhane had him caught at deep midwicket. 

Skipper MS Dhoni (17 off 23) could not do the finishing job for his team which never really got going in the chase. He was out trying to play his potent helicopter shot.

#DDvCSK last night crucial moment in the match .... pic.twitter.com/KKcoJ1ic7v

— Arnab Mukherjee (@ArnabMu72704073) May 19, 2018

Daredevils innings  

A collective batting performance enabled Delhi Daredevils to post 162 for 5 against Chennai Super Kings in an IPL encounter at New Delhi on Friday.

At one stage it looked the Daredevils won’t even cross the 150-run mark but some staggering hitting in the latter half of the innings particularly by Vijay Shankar and Harshal saw Delhi reach to 162. The duo hit four sixes – Patel three and Shankar one – off Bravo to take 26 runs off the last over.

Patel and Shankar stitched an unbeaten 65-run stand for the sixth wicket off just 38 balls to help the hosts put on a decent total.

Earlier, a shaky start pushed Daredevils on the backfoot as CSK came out charging led by its new ball bowler Deepak Chahar, who troubled the free flowing Prithvi Shaw.

Delhi were sluggish at the start, mustering just 39 runs in six-over Powerplay.

Prithvi Shaw (17 off 17) was out cheaply for the third game in a row after he played a loose stroke to be caught at long-on.

Iyer opened the innings with Shaw in Jason Roy's absence and Delhi skipper's innings too was a shaky one.  The captain shared a 54-run stand for the second wicket with the in-form Pant but the South African pacer Ngidi removed  them in the same over to leave Delhi at 81 for three.

Lungi Ngidi picked up successive wickets in the middle to strangle Delhi. Iyer was bowled while making room for a big shot while Pant mistimed a hit over midwicket to be caught at third man.

Delhi had lost two of their main batsmen shortly after Pant punished veteran Harbhajan Singh for two sixes and a four in the 10th over which leaked 17 runs. The momentum the Delhi innings picked up from the Harbhajan over did not last long. Playing for pride after another sorry season, Delhi batsmen looked out of sorts.

Glenn Maxwell's disastrous run continued when he saw his stumps disturbed after attempting a reverse sweep off Ravindra Jadeja. 

Toss

Chennai Super Kings won the toss opted to field first against Delhi Daredevils in match No. 52 of the elventh edition of IPL at New Delhi.

Delhi Daredevils, who have no chance of making it to the playoffs continued to experiment with their playing XI. After becoming the only side to change captains in this season, they have now become the only side to play with three foreigners instead of four. 

Daredevils dropped Junior Dala and Jason Roy - both foreingers and brought in Avesh Khan and Glenn Maxwell. That means thay will take the field with only three overseas players, i.e Glenn Maxwell, Trent Boult and Sandeep Lamichhane.

Chennai on other hand have made one change. Lungi Ngidi has replaced David Willey.

Teams

Delhi Daredevils (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Glenn Maxwell, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni(w/c), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi

Preview 

Chennai Super Kings will eye the top spot on the points table when they face bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils in a dead rubber Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Friday.

Chennai, who sit at the second spot in the points-table, qualified for the play-offs. So in the upcoming match, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side would like to brush up some areas of concern ahead of the play-offs stage.

The batting department seemed sorted out as their opening combination of Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson played sensibly. The lower-order, which included West Indian Dwayne Bravo, Dhoni and Suresh Raina have also contributed handsomely and would like to continue the same.

The pace attack will once again rely on Lungi Ngidi, David Willey and Shardul Thakur.

Delhi, on the other hand, will once again hope to entertain the fans with fireworks from Rishabh Pant, skipper Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy.

With nothing to lose, Delhi is expected to test their bench. In such a scenario, the likes of Manjot Kalra, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Sayan Ghosh may get a look-in.

Delhi's bowling on a flat Kotla wicket was massacred by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous match and they will be hoping for a better effort from the likes of Trent Boult and Co.

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils: Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell, Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Colin Munro, Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Daniel Christian, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Trent Boult, Manjot Kalra, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Lamichhane, Naman Ojha, Sayan Ghosh, Liam Plunkett, Junior Dala.

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf Du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayadu, Deepak Chahar, K M Asif, Kanish Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshtiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willy.