Chennai Super Kings 171 for 6 (Rahane 45, Dhoni 37*, Mitchell 34, Mukesh 3-21, Khaleel 2-21) lost to Delhi Capitals 191 for 5 (Warner 52, Pant 51, Shaw 43, Pathirana 3-31) by 20 runs.
Sunday night, about eleven o’clock, Visakhapatnam sprang to life. The Delhi Capitals under “Hosts” were headed for their first victory, but the outcome didn’t seem to matter at all.
For the first time since the championship game of the previous year, MS Dhoni stepped to the middle to bat. He quickly raised the volume, smashing his first ball for four behind square leg and bludgeoning his third through extra-cover.
Bent officers exaggerate the fine
After accounting for time allowances, it was discovered that the Delhi Capitals team could not meet the minimum needed over rate. As a result, captain Rishabh Pant was fined INR 12 lakh, or around USD 14,000. It was his first IPL 2024 over-rate offense.
The crowd threatened to burst through the ceiling when he hit Khaleel Ahmed for an inside-out six in the next over. One run more than any team has ever made off the final two overs to win in the IPL was still required by Chennai Super Kings with 12 overs remaining.
It was left to Mukesh Kumar to bowl a crucial over. Up until then, his numbers were 2-0-16-3. He bowled several wide yorkers that Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja were unable to get underneath, knowing that one more excellent over would effectively end the match.
Super Kings needed to score 41 off six as the over was set at 5. Unthinkable without the involvement of extras.
The audience did not need to disperse for that reason. Dhoni was not playing. They desired for him to go back in time. He successfully defeated Anrich Nortje, scoring two fours and two sixes. The Super Kings lost by 20 runs, although it was difficult to tell if the yellow-clad supporters were happier with their team’s performance or unhappy with Dhoni’s 37 not out of 16.
It became apparent that the Capitals had won their first game of the season after he scythed a full-toss for six to end the game. David Warner and Rishabh Pant’s bat work had set up the outcome, which Khaleel and Mukesh completed.
In the IPL 2023, Prithvi Shaw amassed 106 runs at an average of 13.25 in eight innings. You have to ask yourself if the Delhi Capitals were looking past him when he didn’t start the season.
Shaw, who replaced local lad Ricky Bhui at the top of the order, set the tone with a 93-run opening partnership with David Warner in 9.3 overs.
It included all the hallmarks of a Shaw inning: mouthwatering drive, vicious cuts, and mouthwatering wristwork. Warner had greater muscle, but his leg-side strokeplay also had a seductive quality. The Capitals were on a roll when he reached his half-century off just 32 balls.
You were unaware that Matheesha Pathirana would compete in the event at all until last week. However, he allayed any worries about his back when he took a blinder at short third in the tenth over, sprang full length, and executed a one-handed stunner while in the air. Warner had to haul himself off after witnessing his mouth drop in shock at the agility.
Even though we were expecting it, his second act was even more spectacular.
He was removed for six in the fifteenth over, but he quickly yorked Mitchell Marsh’s middle stump. He had Tristan Stubbs with another toe-crusher two balls later. The Capitals were quickly losing ground, and at the conclusion of that over, they were down to 134 for 4.
Pant’s innings seemed like a battle in the beginning. When balls were buried in the pitch for a period of time, he kept getting out of shape. The displeasure felt too obvious at 23 off 23. However, he forced himself to back out of the rut, and it was incredible when he did.
He defeated Mustafizur Rahman initially, then Pathirana, sprinkling the long-on boundary with his powerful lower hand and his trademark shovel. He scored a half-century off of 31 balls when he cut Pathirana in the same over to the boundary of the point. The Capitals gained momentum after a 19th over that ended at 17 and finished at 191 for 5.
Right at the top, the left-arm fast left Super Kings in a rut. The late seam movement brought Ruturaj Gaikwad out and back in. Frustrated that he could not get a bat on the ball, Rachin Ravindra holed out to mid-on. Three runs were scored in Khaleel’s first 12 balls.
Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell appeared to be trying to bat deep as they proceeded carefully. Every now and then, they would play shots that would please the purist. similar to Rahane’s flicked six off Rasikh Salam. With 68 runs between them, the two salvaged the innings, but with 10 overs left, the asking rate had risen to 11.70.
Kuldeep Yadav was out for the Capitals because of a little ache. It was Axar Patel’s task to do. And he ended the collaboration by having Mitchell bowl and catch. He attempted to slice one over cow corner to get Impact Sub Shivam Dube’s third ball, but Pant stopped him with his bottom edge.
Assigned to bowl the difficult overs, Mukesh stunned the Super Kings by picking up two in his opening over, the 14th. He dismissed Sameer Rizvi with an incredible seam-up ball that he nicked to short third, then he dismissed Rahane with a slower one that he smashed to long-on.
Anrich Nortje bowled a brilliant third over packed of wide yorkers to frustrate the batsmen, with the Super Kings needing 79 off 30. After the over ended at just seven, Shivam Dube gave in to the mounting pressure and was caught long-off in the 17th over, giving Mukesh his third wicket.
The game appeared to be over. Then Dhoni left the field, putting everyone in retro mode even though the Super Kings were no longer in the game.
