IPL 2021 Match 2: Raina's heroics goes in vain as DC start the season with triumph
Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan
|| India Correspondent ||
Pant woes continue as Lucknow lose to Punjab in IPL
5 May 25
After having a nail-biting campaign opener between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, the second game between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC) was no less. While a returning Suresh Raina scored a quickfire fifty, Sam Curran's blistering knock at the end put up CSK to a decent total but that went in vain as Delhi sealed the deal convincingly.
Delhi Capitals won the toss and opted to bowl first. Soon they got rewarded as CSK got a big blow when the young Avesh Khan trapped Faf du Plessis before the stumps for a three-ball duck in the second over. And, the next over saw the dismissal of Ruturaj Gaikwad. The onus fell upon Moeen Ali and Suresh Raina as they both started to resurrect the innings.
Moeen Ali soon took onKhan for consecutive boundaries and Raina smashed successive fours off R Ashwin in the very next over, posting 33 inside the powerplay. However, both of them showed no mercy on the bowlers as Ali smashed two back-to-back sixes off Ashwin. However, his quickfire knock came to an end in the same over as Ashwin removed him for 36 off 24 with 4 fours and 2 sixes.
However, that didn't affect Raina's scoring as he maintained his onslaught and took the team to 71 in the halfway mark. Ambati Rayudu too started taking on the bowlers but it was Raina who stole the limelight in his return and brought up his fifty with a six as well. However, Rayudu's 16-ball 23 came to an end with a runout soon after.
Ravindra Jadeja came before MS Dhoni and started off with two fours off Marcus Stoinis. But a bizarre run-out saw the in-form Raina got out for 54 and Dhoni too fell off a duck. While the fans were thinking of a below-par score, Sam Curran changed the equation as he hammered 34 off 15 and helped CSK post 188 runs after 20 overs.
While chasing, Delhi Capitals got off to a flying start where Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan got off to a flying start. Both of them didn't waste time to score quickly as they started taking on the bowlers from the very beginning. While they both started with boundaries off Deepak Chahar in the very first over, Shaw hit the first six of Delhi. Soon Dhawan too joined him and their shots all over the park helped them put up 65 runs inside the powerplay.
However, they didn't slow down as their onslaught troubled CSK bowlers a lot. Meanwhile, bowlers created two chances of Shaw's dismissal but he got lives on both occasions and he brought his fifty with a four off Moeen Ali in the 10th over.
Dhawan too scored his fifty in the next over and added a well-maid 100-run stand in 11 overs as well. Shaw who has been in great form, took the charge while Dhawan happily played the second fiddle. However, Bravo put on a break of Shaw's onslaught by dismissing him for 72 off 38 with 9 fours and 3 sixes.
But that didn't affect the chase as the newly-appointed captain Rishabh Pant came to bat at No 3. He played a good supporting role alongside Dhawan. However, Dhawan got out after scoring 85 off 54 with 10 fours and 2 sixes. Pant later hit boundary over mid-wicket and took the team home, with 7 wickets in hand.
