IPL 2018, DD vs CSK: Hits and Misses
With Chennai Super Kings having already qualified for the playoffs and Delhi Daredevils certain to finish with the wooden spoon, this game was a dead-rubber. MS Dhoni won the toss and put the hosts into bat first.
Prithvi Shaw got a run-a-ball 17 and was dismissed by Deepak Chahar. Rishabh Pant, batting at No. 3, joined his skipper Shreyas Iyer in the middle in the 5th over and the duo shared a 54-run stand but both of them were dismissed by Lungi Ngidi in the space of 3 deliveries. From 78/1, DD slipped to 97/5 and it needed a 16-ball cameo from Harshal Patel to take them past 160.
Chasing 163, Ambati Rayudu once again led CSK’s reply as he struck another excellent half-century.
#5 Hit: Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel has had an interesting season so far. He’s played only 3 games (before today) and took 3 wickets. He had a couple of decent outings with the ball before he was taken apart by RCB. Interestingly, he was also promoted to bat at No. 5 in the game against SRH.
In this game, he came out to bat at No. 7 but DD were under pressure as they had lost their last 4 wickets for just 19 runs. At 97/5, it did seem like DD would end up with a below par total, but Harshal Patel’s breezy 16-ball 36 helped DD get to 162.
He started sedately as he scored 7 off his first 6 deliveries before getting stuck into Dwayne Bravo. Patel hit the West Indian all-rounder for 4 sixes in the span of two overs which gave DD the momentum at the end.
He was good with the ball too. He picked up the wicket of the in-form Ambati Rayudu and he was excellent at the death, finishing with figures of 1/23 in his 4 overs. It was an excellent day for the 27-year-old pacer.