Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, CSK, IPL V, IPL News 2012, IPL 2012 Schedule
Delhi rammed the point home instantly as a flicking, glancing Naman Ojha guided Albie Morkel's first three balls of the innings for boundaries.
Skipper Virender Sehwag played some typically ferocious shots, starting off by smacking Doug Bollinger through covers and taking a liking to Morkel next until he holed out in the deep off R Ashwin.
The pre-match anticipation had been all about Kevin Pietersen (43 not out off 26 balls; 3x4, 2x6) and Mahela Jayawardene's entry in the Delhi ranks and the duo didn't disappoint, taking the team home with assured poise and ensuring there would no late dramatics. In a typical anti-climax, the winning run came off a leg bye in the 13th over!
Delhi took an early stranglehold on the game. Chennai ran the wrong way from the very first ball of their innings, when Murali Vijay responded to a call from Faf du Plessis only to find himself stranded more than halfway down the pitch. Three more run outs, including a crucial one of Suresh Raina (17 runs off 16b; 2x6), was to follow.
Eager to get the stuttering innings going, Raina latched on to Irfan Pathan in trademark fashion, clobbering him over deep midwicket for maximum and luckily finding a mistimed pull off Umesh Yadav carrying over the fine-leg fence too.
However, a brilliant piece of fielding from Yogesh Nagar, whose lightning fast throw from point caught Raina off guard, set Chennai back again.
Badrinath, who took seven balls to get off the mark, was next, finding Pietersen's throw from short fine-leg too hot to handle.
Scoreboard
Chennai Super Kings: F. du Plessis c van der Merwe b Morkel 15 (12b, 3x4), M. Vijay (run out) 0 (0b), S. Raina (run out) 17 (16b, 2x6), S. Badrinath (run out) 15 (16b, 1x4, 1x6), R. Jadeja c Ojha b Irfan 13 (17b, 1x4), D. Bravo b Yadav 22 (31b, 1x4), M.S. Dhoni c Jayawardene b Morkel 11 (18b), A. Morkel (not out) 2 (3b), R. Ashwin (run out) 8 (5b, 1x4), S. Jakati (not out) 1 (2b), Extras ( b-1, lb-1, wd-4) 6, Total (for 8 wkts, 20 overs) 110.
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Vijay), 2-26 (du Plessis), 3-43 (Raina), 4-64 (Badrinath), 5-66 (Jadeja), 6-89 (Dhoni), 7-100 (Bravo), 8-108 (Ashwin).
Delhi Daredevils bowling: Irfan 4-0-25-1, Yadav 3-0-24-1, M. Morkel 4-0-19-2, Pietersen 2-0-16-0, van der Merwe 4-0-15-0, Nadeem 3-0-9-0.
Delhi Daredevils: N. Ojha (run out) 14 (12b, 3x4), V. Sehwag c Vijay bAshwin 33 (21b, 3x4, 1x6), K. Pietersen (not out) 43 (26b, 3x4, 2x6), M. Jayawardene (not out) 20 (21b, 1x4), Extra (lb-1) 1, Total (for two wkts, 13.2 overs) 111.
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Ojha), 2-50 (Sehwag).
Chennai Super Kings bowling: A. Morkel 2-0-24-0, Bollinger 2-0-18-0, Ashwin 3.2-0-21-1, Jakati 3-0-23-0, Jadeja 2-0-19-0, Bravo 1-0-5-0.
Man of the Match: M. Morkel.