New Delhi, Apr 19: Chennai Super Kings Thursday inflicted a crushing 86-run defeat on Delhi Daredevils, handing out the sixth consecutive loss to the home team whose miseries show no signs of end with a pathetic batting display by the top and middle order in their Pepsi Indian Premier League match here.
On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings, desperate to get back to their winning ways, capitalised on some ineffective bowling by Delhi Daredevils to put up a challenging score of 169 for four on the back of a scintillating 65 not out by veteran Mike Hussey and swashbuckling innings by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (23-ball 44).
Daredevils suffered the ignominy of being bowled out for 83 inside 18 overs overs and it became the season's lowest total.
Delhi Daredevils' miseries compounded as unheralded medium pacer Mohit Sharma bowled an impressive opening spell in which he removed David Warner and Virender Sehwag, literally shutting the match out for the hosts.
Sharma capped off an impressive bowling figure of three for 10.
Theoretically a possibility remains for qualification in the knock-out but based on current performance, it will be a great achievement if Delhi can avoid ending at the bottom of the heap, which they are in now. Kedar Jadhav's 28-ball 31 was the lone bright spot as the other batsmen hardly showed any stomach for putting up a fight.
That CSK bowlers maintained a disciplined line throughout made it even tougher for the home team batsmen to break the shackles. There were no significant partnerships as most of the batsmen were out playing some atrocious shots.
Warner (1) was played on trying to go for a cut shot while Sehwag (17) mistimed a pull shot to hole out in the deep. Daredevils' experiment with Manprit Juneja seemed to have hit the dead end as he failed once again.
After a half-century in the first game, skipper Jayawardene's woeful IPL form continued as he managed only six from 11 deliveries before being adjudged leg before off Chris Morris.
There was no co-ordination while running between the wickets as Jeevan Mendis and Jadhav were involved in a horrible mix up that saw the Sri Lankan being run out.
Having lost the top four batsmen inside the powerplay, it was impossible for the hosts to make a comeback and CSK ensured that the script is followed as per their terms.
Earlier, Hussey created a launch pad for Dhoni to finish with a flourish as the visitors put up an impressive display.
Hussey carried his bat through the innings with a well-crafted 50-ball knock, which was laced with six fours and two sixes, while Suresh Raina (30) contributed up front as the CSK top-order entertained the packed crowd at the Feroze ShahKotla Stadium.
The last five overs yielded 54 runs as Delhi skipper Mahela Jayawardene's ploy to keep rotating his bowlers failed.
Electing to bat, Chennai Super Kings were off to a good start, courtesy openers Murali Vijay and Hussey. Both went about their business in style with Vijay smacking two fours off Umesh Yadav in his first over.
South African pacer Morne Morkel broke the 30-run opening wicket stand when he had Vijay trapped in front for 18. Raina made his intentions clear from the outset, driving the very first delivery he faced from Morkel through the covers.
Chennai Super Kings raced to 39 for one at the end of mandatory power play. But what followed, to the surprise of many, was Jayawardene's decision to bring Virender Sehwag into the attack.
Sehwag, rolling his arms over for the first time in a long while, drew the loudest applause from the crowd as he looked at ease while bowling his off-breaks.
The Delhi pacers kept it quiet for a while before Raina broke the shackles with two consecutive fours off Yadav, who returned for his second spell, in the 11th over.
Hussey, too, followed suit as he clobbered Ajit Agarkar for a four and a six over mid-wicket to raise the 50-run partnership for the second wicket.
Both looked set for the final assault when Irfan Pathan brought the downfall of Raina, who was caught by wicket-keeper Kedhar Jadhav while looking to smack one over the off side.
Raina's 32-ball 30 was laced with five fours. Dhoni promoted himself up the order, ahead of Subramaniam Badrinath, and the captain justified the move as he launched an all-out attack on the Delhi bowlers.
Jayawardene kept on rotating his bowlers, but to no avail, as Dhoni and Hussey put on display their vast repertoire of stroke-play.
If the lacklustre display by the Delhi bowlers was not enough, the miseries were further compounded by their butter-fingered fielders. Dhoni was dropped by Agarkar at long-off off Yadav, when he was on 19. Agarkar misjudged the catch completely as he was left with no other option but to shake his head in disbelief.
Hussey and Dhoni brought together the 50-run partnership for the third wicket in just 27 balls as the overs between 13-18 yielded 56 runs for CSK. Both had saved the best for Morkel as the South African paceman was clobbered for three fours and a six for 19 runs in his last over.
Dhoni was dismissed in the last over of the innings but by then, he had done his job.
score board
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Michael Hussey (not out) 65, Murali Vijay lbw Morkel 18, Suresh Raina c Jadhav b Pathan 30, MS Dhoni c Mendis b Yadav 44, Dwayne Bravo (run out) 3. Extras (LB-4, W-5) 9. Total (for 4 wkts, 20 overs) 169.
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-90, 3-164, 4-169.
Bowling: Shahbaz Nadeem 3-0-22-0, Irfan Pathan 4-0-30-1, Morne Morkel 4-0-42-1, Umesh Yadav 4-0-33-1, Virender Sehwag 1-0-9-0, Ajit Agarkar 4-0-29-0.
DELHI DAREDEVILS: David Warner b Mohit 1, Virender Sehwag c Hussey b Mohit 17, Manpreet Juneja lbw Mohit 2, Mahela Jayawardene lbw Morris 6, Jeevan Mendis 12, Kedar Jadhav c Bravo b Morkel 31, Irfan c Bravo b Jadeja 2, Ajit Agarkar c Bravo b Ashwin 3, Morne Morkel b Ashwin 2, Shahbaz Nadeem (not out) 2, Umesh Yadav c Raina b Bravo 1. Extras (W-4) 4. Total (all out, 17.3 overs) 83.
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-13, 3-30, 4-30, 5-61, 6-68, 7-73, 8-80, 9-82.
Bowling: Albie Morkel 3-0-13-1, Mohit Sharma 3-0-10-3, Chris Morris 2-0-13-1, Dwayne Bravo 1.3-0-8-1, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-21-1, R Ashwin 4-0-18-2.
The victory helped Rajsthan leapfrog to the top of the poinst table with four wins from five matches, while Mumbai slipped to the fourth position.
While Rahane led Rajasthan’s batting, the bowling was more about team effort, with James Faulkner leading the way with three wickets.
Ajit Chandila and Stuart Binny picked up two wickets apiece.
Mumbai had a disastrous start as they lost Sachin Tendulkar in the first over, top-edging Chandila to the fine-leg fielder.
It was double delight for the home side as off-spinner Chandila struck again, having the woefully out-of-form Ricky Ponting caught and bowled to leave Mumbai, chasing a daunting target, reeling at 10 for two.
Sidhharth Trivedi had Rohit Sharma caught at mid-wicket in a rather soft dismissal, pushing Mumbai further onto the backfoot.
After failing to contribute with the bat, Binny made up with a beauty of a delivery that knocked down Kieron Pollard’s middle stump, helping the hosts inch closer to a big win.
At the end of 10th over, Mumbai were staring down the barrel at 42 for four, needing another 138 runs with the required rate going up with each delivery.
Despite boasting one of the best batting line-ups in the tournament, Mumbai could manage just three fours in the first 10 overs.
And even Kaarthick, going through a purple patch of sorts in the league, could not get going in the face of some disciplined bowling by Rajasthan.
There was some confusion when Ambati Rayudu and Harbhajan Singh found themselves at the same end after the former, who was on strike, crossed over for a single which Harbhajan was never interested in.
The run-out decision went against Harbhajan as he stepped out of the crease and his bat was in the air when the ball hit the stumps. The rest fell in quick succession to hand Mumbai their biggest IPL loss in terms of runs.
Earlier, Rahane top-scored with an unbeaten knock to help his side post a formidable total.
Batting first after winning the toss, Rajasthan raced to fifty in only six overs and were 88 for one at the end of 10th, before the home side picked up 19 runs in the last over of the innings to put up a challenging score.
score board
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: Shane Watson c Kaarthick b Pollard 31, Ajinkya Rahane (not out) 68, Dishant Yagnik c Tendulkar b Harbhajan 34, Stuart Binny (run out) 4, Brad Hodge (not out) 27. Extras (LB-7, NB-2, W-6) 15. Total (for 3 wkts, 20 overs) 179.
Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-115, 3-126.
Bowling: Mitchell Johnson 4-0-41-0, Lasith Malinga 4-0-30 -0, Rishi Dhawan 2-0-20-0, Pragyan Ojha 4-0-31-0, Kieron Pollard 2-0-24-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-26-1.
MUMBAI INDIANS: Sachin Tendulkar c Trivedi b Chandila 1, Ricky Ponting c & b Chandila 4, Dinesh Kaarthick c Hodge b Faulkner 30, Rohit Sharma c Watson b Trivedi 2, Kieron Pollard b Binny 1, Ambati Rayudu lbw Cooper 27, Rishi Dhawan c Faulkner b Binny 0, Harbhajan Singh (run out) 1, Mitchell Johnson b Faulkner 11, Lasith Malinga b Faulkner 7, Pragyan Ojha (not out) 1. Extras (LB-4, W-3) 7. Total (all out, 18.2 overs) 92.
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Tendulkar), 2-10, 3-26, 4-31, 5-61, 6-63, 7-64, 8-83, 9-83.
Bowling: Ajit Chandila 2-0-6-2, Ankeet Chavan 3-0-10-0, James Faulkner 3.2-1-16-3, Siddarth Trivedi 4-1-17-1, Stuart Binny 3-0-14-2, Kevon Cooper 3-0-25-1.
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