Shikhar Dhawan scored his maiden IPL fifty as Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings by five wickets to continue their stunning run in IPL 2020. The win was the seventh in 9 games for Delhi Capitals as they took another giant step towards the playoff.
Chasing 180, Delhi Capitals started poorly with their opening batsman Prithvi Shaw falling for a two-ball duck to Deepak Chahar. It was followed by a 26-run stand between Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane before Chahar struck again to remove the latter for eight.
But before CSK could make further inroads in the match, in-form Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer steadied the ship. The two added 68 runs for the third wicket before Dwayne Bravo broke the stand by dismissing Iyer for 23. Marcus Stoinis then played a fine cameo off 24 off just 13 balls and added 43 runs with Dhawan before departing.
The match ended on a thrilling note. With 21 runs needed from the final two overs, Sam Curran bowled a brilliant 19th, conceding just 4 runs. In the same over, Dhawan had also completed his ton. But in the final over, Axar Patel hit Ravindra Jadeja for three sixes to seal the game with a ball to spare. Dhawan remained unbeaten on 101 while Axar scored 21 from just 5.
Earlier in the match, CSK scored 179 for 4 in the allotted 20 overs after MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. The three-time champions were off to a disastrous start as Sam Curran departed in the very first over for a three-ball duck.
Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis then steadied the ship by adding 87 runs for the second wicket. Anrich Nortje broke the stand when he sent back Watson for 36. Du Plessis, on the other hand, went on to compile another fifty this season before being dismissed for 58 by his compatriot Kagiso Rabada.
Ambati Rayudu (45* off 25 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (33* off 13) then played handy knocks to ensure CSK end up with a good total. Both took the Delhi Capitals bowlers to the cleaners in the death overs as CSK scored 67 runs in the final five overs including 32 in the last two.
Here are the reactions from the game:
Ax'ed us in the end there. ?? #WhistlePodu #WhistleFromHome #Yellove #DCvCSK
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) October 17, 2020
In 2016 Axar Patel was hit for 23 runs in the final over of the match by MS Dhoni to achieve an improbable win.
In 2020 Axar Patel hit 20 runs off four balls in the final over of the match against MS Dhoni's side to record an improbable win!#CSKvsDC #DCvCSK #IPL2020 #IPL
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) October 17, 2020
Majority of the icons of Indian Cricket never had a glorious or respectable exit from IPL•There are many – many examples•As a die hard fan of Dhoni, I am very scared•The biggest worry is that, even luck seems to be on the other side of the coin !! We can only hope & pray
— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) October 17, 2020
Different Players of the Match for DC in #IPL2020 (7 wins)
v KXIP: Marcus Stoinis
v CSK: Prithvi Shaw
v KKR: Shreyas Iyer
v RCB: Axar Patel
v RR: R Ashwin
v RR: Anrich Nortje
v CSK: Shikhar DhawanAnd Kagiso Rabada has the Purple Cap with 19 wickets #DCvCSK
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) October 17, 2020
Now tht was a daredevil chase by dc Outstanding knock by @SDhawan25 congrats on your first ipl ? @akshar2026 great composure in the last over ‘ tough on @imjadeja to ball the final over to lefties If @DJBravo47 was fit and bowling could have bin different result for @ChennaiIPL
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) October 17, 2020
Dhai Axar Prem ke.
Wonderful hundred from @SDhawan25 but Axar Patel doing to Dhoni’s team what was done to him by Dhoni 4 years ago. But a much better batting performance from CSK. #DCvCSK— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 17, 2020
Shikhar Dhawan hits his maiden ton in his 265th T20 innings. Top win for Shikhar Dhawan. What a win for Delhi Capitals. Seventh win for Delhi Capitals. In all certainty 7th different Player of the Match in their 7th win in #IPL2020 #DCvCSK
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) October 17, 2020
Jadeja scored many runs in last over of both the innings. #CSKvDC
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) October 17, 2020
It’s not Batting,it’s not Bowling, it’s not fielding, it’s Fitness that has cost #CSK Bravo missing in the over when he was needed the most #DCvCSK #IPL2020
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) October 17, 2020
Brilliant ? from @SDhawan25 mr consistent for @DelhiCapitals as for #csk fielding was the main reason they lost,You can’t win matches by dropping so many catches #IPL2020
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 17, 2020
After a long wait of:
•13 seasons.
•167 innings.
•Almost 5K runs.Shikhar Dhawan scores his first ever IPL century, what an innings from him. pic.twitter.com/q0E2GPcYml
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 17, 2020
What a victory by @DelhiCapitals…..super impressive by them!!
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) October 17, 2020
Chaaaaaahaaaarrrr on fire ? @deepak_chahar9 @IPL @ChennaiIPL
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 17, 2020
Brilliant from @RayuduAmbati and @imjadeja ??We got runs on the board am sure bowlers will have perfect outing to get these two very crucial 2 points for us ?@ChennaiIPL Good luck fellas #Yellove
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 17, 2020
The way @imjadeja is hitting the ball this year, #csk certainly should use him more up the order.Use the current form #IPL2020
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 17, 2020
What shots Jaddu @imjadeja. Well done brother. ?
— Suresh Raina?? (@ImRaina) October 17, 2020
Chennai Super Kings scored 67 runs in the last 5 overs against the best death bowling attack this season, Ravindra Jadeja was outstanding the way he played both Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. Ambati Rayudu accelerated really well in the final overs.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 17, 2020
If Rishab can play pranks like this with his head coach, you can make out they have a really relaxed and healthy atmosphere in the @DelhiCapitals dressing room pic.twitter.com/izVETtIYwu
— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) October 17, 2020