DC beats MI as RR thrashes CSK

KATHMANDU, October 3: Things went right down to the wire, but Delhi Capitals (DC) held their nerve and beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by four wickets in Match 46 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) in Sharjah on Saturday.

Likewise, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube’s stroke-filled fifties overpowered Ruturaj Gaikwad maiden hundred as Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 47 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) in Abu Dhabi on the same day.

Shreyas Iyer scored a vital 33* while R Ashwin chipped in with an unbeaten 20 and helped DC secure their ninth win of the season.

Needing 130 runs to win, DC lost Shikhar Dhawan early as Kieron Pollard’s direct hit caught the left-hander short of his crease in the second over. DC then lost Prithvi Shaw as Krunal Pandya got the right-hander out LBW in the third over.

Nathan Coulter-Nile then disturb the timber in the fifth over as Steve Smith got out as MI picked three wickets in the powerplay.

DC skipper Rishabh Pant counter-attacked and scored a quickfire 26 with the help of 3 fours and a six. But MI managed to cut short his knock as Jayant Yadav struck in the 9th over of the DC chase.

While Iyer stayed put, MI managed to strike at regular intervals and reduced DC to 93/6 as Axar Patel and Shimron Hetmyer got out in the 12th and 14th overs respectively.

Ashwin, who replaced Hetmyer in the middle, and Iyer joined forces. The pair kept calm and put up an unbeaten 39-run stand to take DC home.

Earlier, MI and DC both made a change to their playing XI as Jayant Yadav and Prithvi Shaw were named in the respective teams.

MI, who were put into bat, lost Rohit Sharma in the second over as Avesh Khan struck in his first over. Suryakumar Yadav announced his arrival to the crease in some style, cracking a six on the third ball he faced. DC though largely kept things tight with the ball and gave away just 35 runs in the power play.

DC picked the second MI wicket in the seventh over as Axar Patel got the better of de Kock. In the eighth over, Suryakumar took on R Ashwin, creaming a six and two fours as MI moved past fifty.

Axar Patel then added two more wickets to his tally. The DC all-rounder dismissed Suryakumar in the 11th over & then got the wicket of Saurabh Tiwary in the 13th over.

Anrich Nortje then got Kieron Pollard out as DC reduced MI to 87/5. While Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya added 22 runs to take MI past, Avesh’s double-wicket penultimate over helped DC see the back of Hardik and Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Although Krunal & Jayant hit a six each in the final over, DC restricted MI to 129/8.

Similarly in the match 47, after CSK, who were put into bat first, scored 189/4 on the back of Gaikwad’s sensational 101*, RR chased down the target in 17.3 overs, courtesy Jaiswal’s fiery 50 while opening the batting and Dube’s brisk 64*.

The RR opening pair of Jaiswal and Evin Lewis announced their aggressive intent. While Jaiswal, who got a reprieve in the second over as Ambati Rayudu could not hold on to a tough chance, creamed five fours in the first four overs, Lewis hit two sixes and two sixes as RR zoomed past fifty in four overs.

Jaiswal then went after Josh Hazlewood, hammering three sixes and a four in the fifth over to complete a 19-ball fifty – his first in the IPL.

There was some respite for CSK as Lewis and Jaiswal got out in the 6th and 7th overs respectively. While Shardul Thakur dismissed Lewis, KM Asif ended Jaiswal’s blitz.

Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube then joined forces and the two denied CSK any immediate success. While Samson scored 28 off 24 balls, Dube, with his powerful hits, targeted the CSK bowling, scoring an unbeaten 64 off 42 balls with the help of 4 fours and as many sixes.

The two added 89 runs together, where Dube scored the majority of the runs, before Samson got out in the 16th over.

Glenn Phillips then joined Dube in the middle and the pair made sure RR crossed the finish line and pocket two points.

Earlier, batting first, CSK were off to a brisk start, courtesy Faf du Plessis and Gaikwad. The CSK opening pair scored 44 runs in the powerplay.

However, Rahul Tewatia’s introduction into the attack in the seventh over helped RR to get their first breakthrough as he had du Plessis stumped. Two overs later, Tewatia picked his second wicket as Suresh Raina was holed out in the deep.

Gaikwad was then joined by Moeen Ali and the duo added 57 runs together. The two kept the scorecard ticking and took CSK to 100/2 at the end of 14 overs.

Gaikwad, who had reached his half-century then, targeted Tewatia, creaming two sixes in the 15th over. However, CSK lost their third wicket in the same over as Moeen got out for 21.

While Gaikwad continued his good work with the bat and took on Akash Singh, hitting two fours and a six in the 16th over to move to 80 off 52 balls, Chetan Sakariya gave RR their fourth success with the ball, getting Rayudu out in the 17th over.

Ravindra Jadeja and Gaikwad then hit a four and a six respectively in the next over as CSK crossed the 150-run mark. Sakariya conceded 12 runs in the penultimate over.

In the final over, CSK scored 15 runs off the first three balls, which saw Jadeja hit two fours and a six in addition to a run off a wide delivery. Gailkwad then tonked a maximum on the final ball to complete a well-deserved hundred.