Watson, Bravo give CSK second win on the bounce

In a chase of 148, the defending champions were led by a blistering 26-ball 44 from Shane Watson – adjudged Player of the Match – before MS Dhoni’s watchful 32 eventually saw to a last-over victory.

A second consecutive win for the Super Kings was largely built on an excellent show of death bowling at the end of the Delhi innings. Despite high-powered cameos from Prithvi Shaw (24 from 16 balls) and Rishabh Pant (25 from 13 balls) – as well as a more patient half-century from Shikhar Dhawan – Chennai's Dwayne Bravo put the breaks on a late-innings onslaught.

Having conceded 17 runs from his opening over, Bravo’s last three overs resulted in just 16 runs, alongside three wickets, one of them courtesy of a stunning catch from Shardul Thakar at deep square-leg to dismiss Pant. While helped by a slow pitch and some poor shot selection, Bravo’s display ensured that Chennai finished the innings with a spring in their step.

In reply, Watson put behind his 10-ball duck in the IPL opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore, hitting four fours and three sixes to give Chennai’s innings a strong platform. When he departed to Amit Mishra in the seventh over, Chennai were well positioned on 73/2.

Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav were cautious, and with the last over to be bowled by Kagiso Rabada, just two runs were required for victory. Jadhav then edged behind to Pant, before Rabada proceeded to bowl two more dot balls to raise hopes of a potential Delhi heist.

Bravo, hero with the ball, then put aside his previous two play-and-misses to find the boundary behind square on the leg-side, sealing victory.