Dhoni shines; CSK beat Delhi

CSK made one change to their playing (Mork)eleven – Chris Morris made way for his fellow South African, Albie.

DD made three changes to their playing (Mork)eleven – Mahela Jayawardene, Morne, and Shahbaz Nadeem made way for Johan Botha, Roelof van der Merwe, and Ashish Nehra.

On winning the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, CSK’s skipper, and the player of the match, chose to bat.

The first Powerplay of CSK’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 47, without the loss of a wicket.

CSK’s openers put on 50 off 6.2 overs (38 balls). The number of extras they had conceded at that point gave DD no reason to be in seventh heaven. While the contributions of both Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay to the partnership were 23 apiece.

CSK’s openers put on 61. Vijay, whose 23-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, eventually scored 31. Forty-four balls into the match, Ben Rohrer ran him out.

Michael Hussey, whose run-a-ball innings included three boundaries, eventually scored 23. A dozen balls later, he was caught by Virender Sehwag. Umesh Yadav broke the eight-run stand.

Suresh Raina, who faced 11 balls, had no reason to be in seventh heaven – eight balls later, he was caught by David Warner, DD’s skipper. Van der Merwe broke the five-run stand.

CSK scored 100 off 14 overs (84 balls). DD had conceded eight extras at that point.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 50 off 32 balls. While Dhoni’s contribution to the partnership was 29, Ravindra Jadeja’s contribution to it was 20. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a couple.

Jadeja, whose 17-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, eventually scored 24. Thirty-eight balls after Raina’s dismissal, Umesh broke the 57-run partnership.

CSK scored 150 off 18.2 overs (110 balls). DD had conceded 10 extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Dhoni’s half-century – which included a couple of boundaries and four sixes – came off 30 balls.

He eventually scored 58 off 35 balls. He was unbeaten, as was Dwayne Bravo, who scored a dozen off eight balls, which included a boundary.

CSK scored 168 for the loss of four wickets off 20 overs.

Botha, who bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceded 23.

Irfan Pathan, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 24.

Siddarth Kaul and Nehra bowled four wicketless overs each, conceding 37 apiece.

Van der Merwe, who bowled three overs, conceded 19. He picked up a wicket.

Umesh, who bowled four overs, conceded 26. He picked up two scalps.

The first Powerplay of DD’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 49, and lost a couple of wickets.

DD’s openers didn’t get off the (Shar)mark. Sehwag, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t get off the mark. A couple of balls into the chase, he was caught by Dhoni off the bowling of Mohit.

Unmukt Chand, whose 12-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, scored 16. Twenty-six balls later, he was caught by Jason Holder. Mohit broke the 34-run stand.

Botha, whose 20-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, scored 23. Eleven balls later, he was caught by Holder. Ravichandran Ashwin broke the 15-run stand.

DD scored 50 off 6.4 overs (40 balls). CSK had conceded a couple of extras at that point.

Kedar Jadhav, who faced four balls, scored a couple. (Dho)Nine balls after Botha’s dismissal, he was caught behind. Needless to say, Albie was in seventh heaven.

Rohrer, who faced five balls, scored four. Nine balls later, he was caught by Ashwin. Albie broke the seven-run stand.

DD scored 100 off 14.2 overs (86 balls). The number of extras they had conceded at that point gave CSK no reason to be in seventh heaven.

Van der Merwe, whose 16-ball innings included a boundary, scored 14. Thirty-two balls after Rohrer’s dismissal, he was caught by Raina. Ashwin broke the 39-run stand.

David Warner, DD’s skipper, scored 44 off 37 balls, which included a couple of boundaries and a six. Ten balls later, he was caught by Vijay. Albie broke the 13-run stand.

Irfan, who faced five balls, scored four. Bravo had a reason to be in seventh heaven – he broke the 10-run stand.

Umesh, whose nine-ball innings included a six, scored a dozen. He was unbeaten.

The (Dho)ninth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Nehra, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. A ball after Irfan’s dismissal, he was caught behind off the bowling of Bravo.

Kaul, who faced nine balls, had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he was unbeaten.

CSK eventually conceded nine extras. DD, who scored 135 for the loss of nine wickets off 20 overs, lost by 33 runs.

Each of the five bowlers bowled four overs apiece.

Holder, who conceded 39, was wicketless.

Mohit, who conceded 22. He picked up a couple of wickets, as did Ashwin and Bravo, who conceded 19 apiece.

Albie, who conceded 32, picked up three scalps.