With stellar performances by Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Deepak Chahar, the Chennai Super Kings easily defeated the Delhi Capitals by 77 runs and clinched a spot in the IPL playoffs.
On Saturday in Delhi, Chennai Super Kings secured an IPL playoff berth with a 77-run thrashing of Delhi Capitals thanks to stellar performances from Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Deepak Chahar. Conway (87 runs off 52 balls) and Gaikwad (79 runs off 50 balls) hit half-centuries to help Chennai Super Kings score a formidable 223/3 after skipper MS Dhoni elected to bat. David Warner, DC’s captain, and greatest batter this year, batted heroically on his own, facing 58 balls and scoring 86 runs. The host team lost several key players in the top order within the Powerplay overs, and as a result, they were only able to score 146 runs in 20 overs.
The rest of DC’s batters, with the exception of Warner, were unable to break the 15-point barrier. Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Lalit Patel, and Aman Hakim Khan, among others from India’s wasteful core, never stopped being embarrassed and never looked like they belonged at this level.
The crowd, too, was on the side of the visitors, as seen by its constant chants of “Dhoni Dhoni” and its cheers whenever Delhi lost a wicket.
For the tourists, Chahar (3/22) stood out while Mahesh Theekshana (2/23) stepped up in the final over to take two wickets. CSK improved to 17 points with the victory, making them the second team to advance to the playoffs.
Only Lucknow Super Giants, who face Kolkata Knight Riders later in the evening, can finish with 17 points, and they have an NRR of 0.304, therefore CSK has a very good chance of finishing in the top two.
On the sticky Kotla surface, Conway and Gaikwad came out swinging for the fences and belting sixes. Together, they hit 14 fours and 10 sixes in their opening stand, which helped them score 141 runs.
Delhi’s 2023 IPL season concluded in a loss, just as it had begun.
Their match performance was indicative of their disappointing season: they bowled poorly, lost wickets in clusters, and relied on an international batter to carry them to victory.
DC’s batting lineup looked dismal while IPL veteran Warner scored his sixth fifty of the year.
Another dismal performance marked the end of Shaw’s (5) miserable season. Ambati Rayudu dove at just the right time at mid-off to catch him off the bowling of his Mumbai teammate Tushar Deshpande.
Chahar came back strong after taking a maximum and a four from Warner. The speedster struck again, dismissing power hitters Phil Salt (3) and Rilee Rossouw (0) with back-to-back balls.
Warner (14) was joined in the middle by the young Dhull (13), and the pair worked well together for a while before falling apart.
In only two overs, the Australian southpaw blasted Ravindra Jadeja for 37 runs, including two sixes and as many fours off of the spinner. The skipper was having trouble chasing the 200-plus score because he kept losing partners at the opposite end.
Conway and Gaikwad got things started in the second over, scoring 13 runs off of Lalit Yadav thanks in large part to a six from Conway.
When the Delhi bowlers went outside of their lines, they paid the price.
After DC abolished field limitations, Gaikwad reached his third fifty of the season by hitting Axar Patel for back-to-back sixes over mid-wicket.
While Gaikwad took the initiative, Conway supported him admirably by clipping, pulling, and cutting his way to fifty.
The next batter Gaikwad went after was Kuldeep Yadav, whom he hit for a hat trick of sixes. The first batter blasted one over long off and then sailed one over the fence in the opposite direction, long on.
Dhoni, who was 5 not out after facing only 4 balls, was the center of attention. However, the CSK captain was on strike for the final ball, which had to be bowled twice due to a no-ball and a wide from Sakariya.
