STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsAfter a nail-biting finish in the first match of the 14th edition of IPL, it was a cake walk for Delhi Capitals in the second. By virtue of a seven wicket win, Rishabh Pant is off to a winning start to his captaincy career.
The master and the apprentice
For a long time, the talk has been around Rishabh Pant as the successor of MS Dhoni. Off late, he has certainly showed the glimpse in all formats. Captaining for the first time in IPL at the age of 23 years and 188 days, he was up against the man who had captained for more than 180 matches. There was an age difference of 16 years and 89 days between MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant. This is the fourth highest age difference between opposing captains in IPL.
Faf du Plessis’s first of a kind dismissal
Faf du Plessis has been one of the most successful batsmen for Chennai in IPL, scoring over 2000 runs. However, in tonight’s match, he missed out as he was packed off for a duck, his fourth of IPL. Even though he was dismissed for a duck, an unwanted stat stands out. In his 77 innings prior to this, he had been dismissed caught 28 times, bowled 12, caught behind 12, run-out 9, stumped 6 and caught & bowled thrice. In none of these had he been dismissed through an LBW. In his 78th IPL innings, he was dismissed through an LBW for the first time in IPL.
First fifty run partnership for the seventh wicket
Chennai were in a good position to post 200+ total by the end of the 15th over, when Suresh Raina was going good at one end. But, a run-out ended his come back innings. MS Dhoni, who came in after his dismissal wasn’t able to add any run and in a span of two runs, Chennai had lost two wickets. Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja, started to rebuild and were able to post a 51-run partnership in 28 balls for the seventh wicket that propelled Chennai to a score of 188. This was the first time in IPL, a Chennai pair for the seventh wicket had posted a 50+ partnership.
A flying start
An in-form youngster and a veteran with the mettle to prove turned out to be a deadly combination for Chennai, when they came out to bowl. Both, Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan were striking at over 150 in the Powerplay, but, Shaw was even better. He scored 36 runs at a strike rate of 200 in the first six overs. By the end of the first six, Delhi had scored 65 runs without the openers being separated. This was their highest ever Powerplay score against Chennai in IPL, surpassing their previous best of 64 that came in 2008.
The Dhaw-Shaw show
Chasing a big target of 189, the start had to be great for Delhi and they were off to flyer in the Powerplay. It didn’t stop there, both, Dhawan and Shaw, continued to put pressure on bowlers and reached their first 100-run partnership in IPL. This was also Delhi’s first 100-run opening stand after 68 innings. The last time they had a century partnership was in May 2016 against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions. Dhawan and Shaw had added 138 runs for the first wicket before the latter was dismissed. The 138-run opening stand became the second highest first wicket partnership against Chennai in IPL.
Third highest target chased against Chennai
At the Wankhede, defending totals is always a difficult feat even for a bowling attack like Chennai, which has been one of the best. Against Delhi in the second match, it was one of their off days. In the whole of IPL 2020, Chennai had conceded a score of 180+ only twice and Delhi was one amongst those two. The 189 runs chased by Delhi is the joint third highest successful chase against Chennai in IPL.
