Abu Dhabi, April 22 (IANS): Chennai Super Kings put on a clinical show to beat Delhi Daredevils by a massive 93 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here Monday.
Riding on a strong batting performance led by Suresh Raina's 56 off 41 balls, Chennai Super Kings posted a competitive 177 for seven in 20 overs.
Their slow bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, then picked up two wickets each to bowl out Delhi Daredevils for just 84 runs in 15.3 overs.
In fact all the six Super Kings bowlers picked up wickets. Off-spinner Ashwin was the miser of the lot giving away just three runs from two overs for his two wickets while Jadeja conceded 18 runs from his 2.4 overs. Pacer Ishwar Pandey also got two for 23 while Dwayne Smith, Ben Hilfenhaus and Mohit Sharma got a wicket each.
Daredevils made a poor start losing three wickets for just 17 runs on board and couldn't recover from it. Jimmy Neesham top scored with 22 while skipper Dinesh Karthik made 21.
Earlier, opting to bat first, Super Kings made a slow start but then caught up with pace, thanks to an explosive knock from Raina, who struck five fours and a six in his 41-ball knock.
Raina and Dwayne Smith ( 29) laid down the foundation with a 54-stand for a late onslaught by Faf du Plesis (24) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (32).
Dhoni smashed two fours and two sixes in his 15-ball quickfire knock while Du Plesis hit a four and a six.
Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the Daredevils bowlers picking three for 32.
Dhoni lauded his players for a comprehensive win.
"Complete performance. Catches win matches. This was a perfect game for us, bit of help for fast bowlers. Seven batsmen should be good enough. We had a day off and fielding is something we always emphasise on and it can be a benchmark for forthcoming games," he said.
Raina, who was Man of the Match, said it was the fielding that proved key.
"We bowled really well. We won because of the fielding. I looked to be positive till the last ball. The pitch was doing something. The new ball does do more under lights. I think Ishwar Pandey won us the game today. I've managed to play so many games for CSK because of my fitness as it is very hot in Chennai so you need to keep fit," he said.
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