Rating charts

CSK  5/10 - Lacking the intent to utilize the powerplay, Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson played conservatively, after Sam Curran, who was sent to accelerate, got out in the first over, ending with 39 for 1 in the powerplay. 

DC  9/10 - After a dismal start, Iyer and Dhawan started accelerating as soon as the powerplay got over and set up the game for Delhi. Delhi played with absolute sensibility, not playing any rash shots and taking full advantage of bad balls.

CSK  9/10 - Chennai gave a masterclass on batting in the middle overs. They played with the intent that they lacked in the powerplay and kept the scoreboard ticking with singles, in between sending bad balls towards the rope. Fair play to Faf and Rayudu.

DC  7/10 - They were not extremely bad or extremely good. Delhi started off hitting right lengths but as soon as Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu got going, Delhi’s good work with the ball was spoilt. 

CSK 7/10 - By this time the match was already in Delhi's favour and Chennai didn't quite have the best day with the ball as they were smashed all around the park by Dhawan and in the last over by Axar Patel. 

CSK have taken the tag of the slowest team in the powerplay way too seriously

This season CSK have been the team scoring the lowest runs in the powerplay and they did try to change it by sending Sam Curran to open the innings. But the problem with the move was evident in this match as he got out early, which resulted in CSK not getting the boost upfront and didn’t even show any intent of increasing the run-rate. Any other team would have tried to utilize the powerplay but rather than taking it as a criticism, they seem to have taken the tag of being the slowest way too seriously, and now, they are hell-bent on following the same approach in every game. In this match too, they scored just 39 runs without any intent whatsoever.

Opening the batting for Delhi, Shaw has played some of the best innings for them, but that hasn’t happened as regularly as Delhi would have wanted. Having scored 202 in 9 matches, he did show signs of a big run season with 2 fifties in 4 matches, however, he hasn’t been able to consistently perform at that level, scoring just 23 runs in the last three matches. In today’s game as well, he got out on a duck as he tried to play an out-swinger from Deepak Chahar to mid-on, but the Mumkaikar got deceived by the swing and gave the catch straight to the bowler. He is at that stage in his career, where he should be taking responsibility to get his team over the rope in crunch games and not get out in a silly fashion. Although he is a free-flowing batsman, he needs to take into consideration - the situation of the match and play accordingly. 

Deepak Chahar is a beast with the new ball

Turning Point

Shikhar Dhawan got dropped almost 4 times by Chennai as they provided full support to him to score his maiden hundred and take his team over the ropes. The first of the four catches was dropped in the 7th over by Deepak Chahar fielding at deep mid-wicket when Dhawan was batting on 25. It could have turned the match in favor of Chennai, but Dhawan took full advantage of the dropped catches. 

Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja's cameo at the end, Deepak Chahar's two wickets with the new ball, Shikhar Dhawan's hundred, Marcus Stoinis' another finish, and many more. It was a highly entertaining match with highs and lows for both the team, making it worth the money.