Chennai Super Kings cruised to an 8-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday, with Sanju Samson and Kartik Sharma remaining unbeaten on 87 and 41 respectively as they comfortably chased down the 156-run target in 17.3 overs.
CSK began the season with defeats to RR, PBKS and RCB, but recovered with consecutive wins over DC and KKR. They then lost to SRH, before regaining momentum with a double over MI and a victory against GT.
With the win against DC, Chennai moved to 10 points from 10 matches this season, while Delhi stayed two points adrift of the five-time champions in seventh place.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad opined that the side was always abundant in quality and added that their string of win, was a matter
of momentum.
“I think even initially after the second and third game, the talk was about, Felm and myself, we were always positive,” he said reflecting on his chats with head coach Stephen Fleming during the initial phase.
“We thought that we were closer than what we thought than or what we were last year. I think we pretty much covered all the bases, what we had, Sanju coming in and then we had great middle-order as well.”
“Our bowling was going good as well. So we just needed that couple of wins and then to get that momentum, you need that in T20 cricket.”
“So I think after that, after the third game, we got those couple of wins and then, everyone just started to gel together.
After winning the toss, DC opted to bat but stumbled early. Pathum Nissanka fell to Mukesh Choudhary for 19, and KL Rahul was dismissed by Akeal Hussain for 12.
Noor Ahmed was then introduced into the attack and struck twice, removing Karun Nair for 13 and Nitish Rana for 15. DC captain Axar Patel followed soon after for just 2, dismissed by Gurjapneet, before Tristan Stubbs and Sameer Rizvi steadied the innings for the hosts.
Stubbs made 38 before Jamie Overton accounted for the South African, while former CSK player Rizvi stayed unbeaten on 40, taking DC to 155/7 in their 20 overs.
In reply, Samson opened the innings alongside skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was sent back for 6 by Lungisani Ngidi. Urvil Patel then added a quickfire 17 off 9 balls. Kartik Sharma arrived to consolidate the chase as Samson took command, hammering yet another brisk half-century to keep CSK on track.
Samson shifted through the gears with ease, taking the game away from the hosts and ensuring the required rate was never a concern, thanks to a steady stream of boundaries. Kartik, coming off a fifty in his previous match, offered strong support to Samson’s blazing knock.
The pair put together an unbroken 114-run partnership that sealed a dominant win for the visitors.
