Table toppers Chennai Super Kings maintained their purple patch, winning their tie against a torn and tattered Delhi Daredevils by 8 wickets to maintain their run at the top of the table.
Chasing down DD’s competitive 178, CSK opened with its regulars: Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Bravo, in an attempt to continue being in its sweet spot. CSK quickly raced away to 78/0 in 11 overs, cruising at over 7 runs per over, when McCullum became the first wicket to be toppled by Shukla for 32. Smith was joined by Raina who took the team to 163/1 in 18 overs, when, in the penultimate over, Smith fell to Parnell for a hard-earned 79.
By the time Smith departed, he, with assistance from Raina had already steered the team towards a win. It was just a matter of completing formalities for the new man Dhoni, who smashed a quickfire 12 to take his team home to a comfortable win.
Earlier, CSK won the toss and invited DD to bat first. Struggling to be upbeat in the tournament, their openers De Kock and Murali Vijay proceeded cautiously, scoring 34/0 in 4 overs. The 5th over saw the first wickets tumble; it was a twin blow plotted by Mohit Sharma. Â De Kock run out 24(16) and K Pietersen 0(2) were the first two Delhi casualties, with which the scoreboard read 37/2 in 5 overs.
Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik teamed up to take the team to 96/2 in 12 overs, when the handsome-looking partnership was broken for Hilfenhaus, who claimed Karthik for 51. Shukla lasted for a blink and miss affair, walking out for a second ball duck deceived by Ashwin. The next over saw the other set batsman Murali Vijay perish for 35, done in by Jadeja. JP Duminy 28(17), K Jadhav 29(18) took the team to 178/5 in their 20 overs. Â
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