Chennai Super Kings (CSK) secured a dominant 27-run victory against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.
CSK won the toss and chose to bat first. However, Delhi Capitals' spinners restricted CSK's batters, with six of them scoring over 20 runs, and the highest individual score was only 25. Nevertheless, Skipper MS Dhoni's vital cameo of 20 runs off nine balls propelled CSK to a fighting total of 167/8 in 20 overs.
In reply, DC's openers struggled as Deepak Chahar dismissed David Warner for a second-ball duck. Phil Salt hit a six and a boundary before getting out for 17. The next few overs saw DC losing wickets at regular intervals, and they were left reeling at 27-3 in four overs.
Riley Rossouw and Manish Pandey steadied the innings, building a 59-run partnership before Pandey got out for 27. Rossouw was next to go, falling to Jadeja in the 15th over. DC tried to accelerate, but CSK's bowlers kept them in check, and the visitors eventually finished on 140/8 in 20 overs.
CSK's bowlers, led by Matheesha Pathirana and Mitchell Marsh, were clinical in their execution, keeping the DC batters under pressure throughout the innings.
CSK's victory was built on the back of their bowlers' performance and Dhoni's crucial cameo, which helped them post a competitive total. With this win, CSK moved up to the third spot in the IPL 2023 standings, while DC remained in fifth place.
Brief score: Chennai Super Kings 167/8 in 20 overs (Shivam Dube 25 off 12, MS Dhoni 20 off 9; Mitchell Marsh 3/18, Axar Patel 2/27) beat Delhi Capitals 140/8 in 20 overs (Rilee Rossouw 35 off 37, Manish Pandey 27 off 29; Matheesha Pathirana 3/37, Deepak Chahar 2/28) by 27 runs.