Super win for Chennai

In Match 28 of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings avenged defeat against the Delhi Daredevils by securing a four-wicket victory in a thrilling encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi on Thursday.

Chennai was chasing a target of 188 set by hosts Delhi. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team seemed to do well at 98 with a loss of two wickets after 10 overs. The last 5 overs needed the visitors to score 46 runs for a win. It all came down to the wire when in the 19th over, Chennai lost two consecutive wickets of Dhoni and Chamara Kapugedera with the score reading 166 for six.

This brought the target to 15 runs off the last over. But Manpreet Gony and S Badrinath effectively scored the required runs off the Shoaib Malik over. The top run-getter for the Super Kings was Stephen Fleming (44) followed by S Vidyut (40) and Dhoni (33).

For Chennai, Parthiv Patel was replaced by Vidyut as opener and he ably assisted Fleming in the run-chase. Vidyut hit two boundaries off Glenn McGrath’s first over; Mohammad Asif met with a similar fate. However, the batsman missed getting a half-century when he gave a catch to Shikhar Dhawan at deep mid-wicket off Pradeep Sangwan’s bowling. Vidyut scored a handy 40 off just 23 balls.

Earlier, MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to field. For Delhi, Sangwan and Yo Mahesh took two wickets apiece while Asif pocketed one. Gautam Gambhir contributed a quick-fire 80, his fourth half-century in the IPL, steering the score to 187 for five. His knock was studded with 11 boundaries and a six. The Delhi batsman claimed the “Orange Cap” for being the highest run-getter so far in the tournament. The honour was previously held by Rohit Sharma of the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers.

Playing his first match in the IPL after being out of cricket for a long duration due to injury, Lakshmipathy Balaji halted Gambhir’s innings in the 18th over. Shikhar Dhawan too chipped in once again with a solid 59 by hitting six fours and two sixes off 46 balls before becoming Balaji's second wicket.

For the Chennai side, Balaji and Albie Morkel returned similar bowling figures of 2/35 each, while Gony claimed one wicket for 36.

MS Dhoni was adjudged the Player of the Match for his performance.