Chennai Super Kings player M.S. Dhoni plays a shot during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam on March 31, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

There are not many better than the great Mahendra Singh Dhoni when it comes to game awareness and that reflected in his maiden outing with the bat this IPL season, said Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming.

The margin of defeat for CSK’s first loss of the season would have been bigger than 20 runs if it was not for Dhoni’s unbeaten 37 off 16 balls at number eight.

Dhoni’s cameo against the Delhi Capitals included a thundering six over extra-cover before he unleashed a one handed maximum over mid-wicket in the 20th over.

The 42-year-old, who last played for India in 2019, had undergone a knee surgery last year.

“It was beautiful wasn’t it. He has been playing incredibly well pre-season. He is coming back from quite a serious injury. His batting has been superb. it gave us a positive vibe towards the end of a tough day.

“To get within 20 (runs of the target) run rate wise is important and he knows that. The way he played was spectacular,” said the former New Zealand captain at the post match press conference on Sunday.

On the first loss of the season, Fleming added: “The result today is a fair reflection of the team’s play tonight. We were a little bit off tonight, we were slow at start in the first six overs of each innings. We gave away too many runs in the first six when we bowled.

“When we batted, they were very good, created pressure and used the conditions very well. The little cameos from David Warner and Rishabh Pant pushed them to a very good score (191/5).”

Was waiting for a long time to perform: Khaleel

Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed’s burst with the new ball put CSK on the backfoot from the outset.

“I was waiting for a long time to perform for the team. When I started, I realised I was getting good swing, so I just backed it up and didn’t allow the opposition any chance,” said Ahmed.

“The more you play, the more you understand your game. The same happened with me as I have been playing continuously for six months, I got to understand my game plans, my body and managing to play in small niggles.

“It all came due to the domestic season, it gave me good confidence before coming into the IPL and it’s been a great feeling.”

Delhi Capitals’ Rishabh Pant speaking to Chennai Super Kings’ M.S. Dhoni after the end of Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings at ACA-VDCA stadium in Visakhapatnam on March 31, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

Half-centuries from David Warner (52, 35b, 5×4, 3×6) and Rishabh Pant (51, 32b, 4×4, 3×6), followed by Khaleel Ahmed’s brilliant first spell (3-1-9-2) helped Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs for its first win of the season at the ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Sunday.

Electing to bat, Capitals posted 191 for five as openers Warner and Prithvi Shaw laid the foundation with a 93-run partnership before Pant gave the final flourish.

In reply, CSK’s chase went off the rails immediately when left-arm pacer Khaleel (two for 21) removed openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra in his first two overs as only 32 came in the PowerPlay.

DC vs CSK live score, IPL 2024

Revival

Ajinkya Rahane (45) and Daryl Mitchell (34) added 68 runs for the third wicket to keep the defending champion’s hopes alive. But just as they looked to get a move on, Axar Patel had Mitchell caught and bowled. Once Mukesh Kumar struck twice in as many balls to remove Rahane and Sameer Rizvi, it was nearly over for the Super Kings. The sell-out crowd was decked in yellow, and CSK’s fans, though, found some solace when M.S. Dhoni re-wound the clock and brought the roof down with a blistering cameo, smashing an unbeaten 37 (16b, 4×4, 3×6) that included some clean strikes down the ground. However, it came a bit too late for the Men in Yellow.

Earlier in the evening, Warner cut loose in the fifth over with a pick-up shot over midwicket for a six, followed by two boundaries through the off-side off Deepak Chahar. In the next over, Shaw slammed Mustafizur Rahman for a hat-trick of boundaries, as Delhi got to 62/0 in six overs.

Pathirana’s beauties

From 103/1, Delhi slumped to 134/4 as Matheesha Pathirana pulled things back for CSK when he delivered two inch-perfect reverse-swinging yorkers to knock over Mitchell Marsh and Tristan Stubbs in the space of three balls. But Pant ensured Delhi did not squander the start as he took down the Sri Lankan pacer for a six and two fours in one over to get to his half-century. The final flourish from the Delhi skipper meant his side had enough to hand Chennai its first defeat.

Delhi Capitals bowler Anrich Nortje celebrates with captain Rishabh Pant during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Rajasthan Royals on March 28, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Delhi Capitals bowling coach James Hopes feels that the team’s under-fire pace spearhead Anrich Nortje will get better with time having recently made a comeback to competitive cricket after six months.

Nortje was taken to the cleaners by Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag at the death as he went for 48 in his four overs on March 28.

Rajasthan Royals won the IPL match by 12 runs while defending 185 for 5.

Nortje had been out of cricket since September and came into IPL having played just three domestic T20 games earlier this month and failed to nail the yorkers or bowl the hard lengths that he is known for.

“I won’t say too much bad about the bowlers. They just tried to execute. It was a good first half with the ball but got away from us a little bit in the last five years,” Hopes said after his team’s 12-run loss to RR, where the complexion changed during the last part of their bowling innings.

“It’s the first time that Nortje has been at this level in a while. He had a fair time out of the game, but if you look at all the numbers, he is one of the premier death bowlers in the game. We trust that he is going to keep getting better,” Hopes, a former Australia medium pacer said defending the Proteas pacer.

Hopes also felt that just like bowling, the team’s batting also came apart in the back-10 after a positive start.

“With the bat, we started really well, we were in front of the game, and then fell away a little bit in the middle. They bowled 10 overs of death bowling pretty much at us, and executed it well.”

Hopes assessed that the end game is a problem in both departments after the first two defeats.

“We need to tidy at what we do at the end of the game. It’s one game, I don’t even count the first game because we had to take a bowler out to get an extra batter in and then Ishant (Sharma) went down, so I’m not going to judge us too harshly on one game.” The batting in the middle overs will largely depend on how comeback man Rishabh Pant fares.

“We need to tidy up our middle over batting too. We tend to get stuck a little bit in phases there. We know the fix for that is Rishabh Pant,” Hopes said.

“He has played two games after a long lay-off and I think you’re going to see some pretty special things from him in the next few weeks,” he concluded.

Delhi Capitals will take on Chennai Super Kings in their next game at the ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on March 31.