Delhi Capitals have made a great start to IPL 2021 with a dominant win over Chennai Super Kings.
They beat CSK by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The Capitals cruised to the target of 189, thanks to a dazzling 138 run partnership between openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan.
Both the batsmen scored stroke-filled half-centuries.
Prithvi Shaw, who was overlooked for the ODI series against England looked determined to prove a point.
He looked in complete control and his display oozed with high-quality attacking shots.
His 72 came off just 38 balls, with 9 fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 189.47.
Though Dhawan bagged the Man of the Match for his 85, Shaw’s innings gave DC the initiative when it mattered the most.
Dhawan was happy to give Shaw more strike in the beginning but maintained the high stroke rate after Shaw’s dismissal.
Though all the bowlers for CSK faltered, the biggest punishment was reserved for Shardul Thakur who went for 53 runs in 3.4 overs.
Thakur was hit for 11 boundaries and even gave away 2 wides.
Rishabh Pant, in his first match as captain, hunt the winning runs with 8 balls to spare.
For any team batting second, the dew is a big help as the bowlers find it hard to grasp the ball. Hence CSK could have done better to score about 20 runs more.
Though CSK has a long batting line-up, the DC bowlers struck some early blows to put CSK on the back foot.
Avesh Khan and Chris Woakes generated good swing, pitched it full and reaped rewards.
Avesh got Faf du Plessis lbw, Woakes got rid of Ruturaj Gaikwad to leave CSK tottering at 7 for 2.
Suresh Raina, making his comeback for CSK, was the only batsman who performed, getting 54 runs before being run out.
Avesh Khan bowled MS Dhoni for a duck and later, though Curran and Ravindra Jadeja added 51 runs in 27 balls, the target just wasn’t good enough.
Avesh Khan’s performance was a huge bonus for DC. He was very impressive in his 4 overs and ended with 2/23.
Delhi Capitals 190 for 3 (Shaw 72, Dhawan 85) beat Chennai Super Kings 188 for 7 (Raina 54, Moeen Ali 36, , Avesh Khan 2-23, Chris Woakes 2-18) by seven wickets
