CSK vs DC | Player Ratings - Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni star as Chennai Super Kings ensure top-two finish

Shane Watson(1/10): Everytime Shane Watson starts slow, CSK fans reveal themselves with the prospect of yet another firecracker century, a.k.a the last year final against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Tonight, when the CSK opener played out eight deliveries without scoring a run, the anticipation was at a fever pitch, but that wasn’t come out to be. With Trent Boult bowling wide yorkers, Watson suffered the worst and not able to touch anyone of them before being dismissed for duck on the ninth ball.

Faf du Plessis (4/10): Like always, Faf started slow and didn’t take chances against pacers. Once Suresh Raina went for the shots, it took some pressure off his shoulder and he took the responsibility of tackling the left-arm and off-spinners leaving Raina to counter Amit Mishra. While that helped CSK set-up a base, but he played 41 deliveries for his 39, and that was something DC felt good about. 

Suresh Raina (8/10): The Southpaw didn’t have the best of the seasons and when he came out to bat, it was clear that self-doubt had engulfed his mind entirely. However, he shredded that instantly - thanks to the grievance of the situation that he came out to bat - and ended up scoring 59 off 37 balls. May not be the best batting performance out there in the IPL, but consider CSK’s score of 7 in four overs, this will be considered as a gold dust. 

MS Dhoni (8.5/10): 18 runs off the first 14 balls, but MS Dhoni ensured a solid ending to the game with a scare that just went on to validate that he is “the Dhoni”. Boult, who was nearly impeccable with the ball in his first three overs, conceded as many as 21 runs in the last as the CSK skipper was in the mood to destroy every ball that was coming his way. Eventually, he managed to score 44 runs off 22 balls, guiding CSK to 179-4. 

Ravindra Jadeja (9.5/10): Ravindra Jadeja was promoted to No.5 in order to give an impetus to the innings, which suffered badly for Watson and du Plessis’ slow innings. And he did exactly that by hitting a six and four on consecutive deliveries which gave MS Dhoni some downtime out there. With the ball, however, Jadeja unleashed some of his magical deliveries and with a tag-team effort with MS Dhoni as he ended his spell with a figure of 3/9 in three overs.

Ambati Rayudu (4/10): The demotion came in order to accelerate the run-scoring process, and when Ambati Rayudu came out to bat, it was already late. Hitting a four on the first ball he faced, he made his intentions clear, but there was hardly any time for him to do any good to his faltering reputation as he was dismissed on the very next ball with a top edge. 

Kedar Jadhav (6/10): After Dhoni shone through, Kedar Jadhav ensured yet another rest day for him in the dug-out. Neither did he have anything to do with the ball nor did he field at extra cover or square leg which could’ve given the reputation of a good fielder in a batting paradise like Chepauk. 

Dwayne Bravo (5/10): The Carribbean all-rounder is a joy to watch when he uses the back of his hand to great effect and nails the slower balls perfectly. Bravo could do hardly anything tonight as his wrist was perfectly coiled in the side-on manner and notwithstanding the fact that he failed to wicket today, the manner encapsulated why Dhoni trusts him so much. 

Deepak Chahar (4.5/10): In the CSK fan ceremony, Dhoni was seen making fun of Deepak Chahar for not listening to him most of the times, but Chahar would silently disagree. While 32 runs in three overs would paint the picture of an average bowler, but add to that the Prithvi Shaw wicket, it was a perfect spell at the end. 

Harbhajan Singh (6.5/10): It has been an established fact that Harbhajan Singh’s role in the CSK set-up is a very complex one, that cricket experts like to call as “Horses for Courses”. As the chance of dew was next to zero, he came with an open mindset of picking wickets and by dismissing Shikhar Dhawan, he gave the team the biggest respite.

Imran Tahir (9/10): If there was a dream spell for a spinner, this was it. Imran Tahir steamed in with a gathering energy and used his beloved Chepauk pitch to weave his magic one more time. From dismissing Rishabh Pant with a wide angling leg-spinner to make Axar reach for his googly wide outside off to extract an edge or to celebrating near the boundary in his own inimitable style, Tahir had one of the best days he could offer. 

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