(Cricinfo) Delhi Daredevils 113 for 4 (Gambhir 57*, Bollinger 2-24) beat Chennai Super Kings 112 for 9 (Badrinath 30*, Nehra 3-26, Sehwag 2-18) by six wickets
Chennai Super Kings were restricted to their lowest total of the season at the MA Chidambaran stadium, and yet they threatened to defend it against the Delhi Daredevils on a pitch that offered bounce and sharp turn.
Delhi lost three wickets before Gautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas batted with determination, fighting dehydration, to secure a valuable victory. It wasn’t until 17.1 overs that Delhi’s run-rate touched six for the first time in the chase and they overhauled 112 with eight balls to spare.
Delhi fast bowlers Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes, back after a finger injury, made vital incisions into the Chennai line-up, an advantage their spinners capitalised on. Chennai were 39 for 3 after the Powerplay, 55 for 6 after ten overs, and only an eleventh-hour boost propped them past three figures.
Doug Bollinger hit the only six of the innings – in the 18th over – and it turned out to be the only one of the match.
The chase was anything but straightforward. David Warner slapped his second ball, from offspinner R Ashwin, to cover and Bollinger dismissed Virender Sehwag after being caught at slip by Matthew Hayden.
The first boundary came in the third over when Gambhir charged Ashwin one edged past slip. Karthik flicked Bollinger through midwicket but soon after miscued a pull in Shadab Jakati’s first over to midwicket, leaving Delhi on 38 for 4.
Delhi held Paul Collingwood back and sent in Manhas, who provided his captain sensible support. Gambhir, run out thrice in his last four innings, was steely: there were no ambitious shots and he played the ball late, cutting and glancing for ones and twos.
Slowly Gambhir and Manhas steered Delhi to safety. Manhas released pressure by cutting L Balaji and pulling Ashwin for fours before Gambhir hit a brace of boundaries off Raina to end Chennai’s challenge. He pulled Bollinger for four in the 18th over to bring up his 50 off 51 balls, and victory came soon after.
Gambhir and Manhas’ match-winning stand of 75 had taken 11.4 overs.
Delhi’s spinners, however, had provided their batsmen a sign of what was to come. They came on after the Powerplay and Dilshan, Sehwag and Amit Mishra strangled the scoring-rate with frequent wickets. Chennai slid from 52 for 3 to 55 for 6 in the space of two overs.
Chennai were reeling at 55 for 6 by the half-way stage, with only S Badrinath left of the specialist batsmen. The hosts managed to take 12 off the final over – 33 off the last three – to reach a total their bowlers attempted valiantly to defend, but in vain.
