A stupendous all-around performance by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) saw the Capitals gets hammered in the most obnoxious manner possible at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vishakhapatnam. The Chennai side proved yet again that experience is always gold in the shortest format of the game. 

They went past the exuberant Delhi Capitals (DC) easily on the day to set up the date of the finals with their nemesis this season, Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday.

Let’s look at the factors which shaped the game in favour of Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings:

1. Delhi Capitals lost wickets at regular intervals

Putting into bat first, Delhi Capitals were fancying their chances to put up a decent total on the board and restrict the men-in-yellow. Prithvi Shaw along with Shikhar Dhawan was off to a decent start, putting 21 runs in three over, scoring seven runs per over. 

However, the partnership didn’t last long as Deepak Chahar got the first blood as he trapped Prithvi Shaw right in front of the wicket. His counterpart, Shikhar Dhawan was the second to be dismissed, who tried to play on the back foot but in the process got a slight nip and it was through to MS Dhoni behind the stumps. Once the openers departed, the onus to take the innings forward was on Colin Munro and Shreyas Iyer. But as the openers, they too didn’t stay at the wicket for long. 

The wickets kept tumbling for Capitals as they eventually managed to put 147 runs on the board. Dwayne Bravo was the pick of the bowler who scalped two wickets in the form of Keemo Paul and Axar Patel and went for a mere 19 runs. 

2. Openers got Chennai off to a great start

Chasing 147, it could’ve been a tricky chase. But Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson killed the contest in the first half itself. They started exceptionally slowly but eventually upped the ante to stitch 81 runs for the first wicket. Du Plessis took care of scoring the runs in the powerplay while Watson got going after his partner got out. He ripped apart Keemo Paul slamming him for 25 runs in one over.

Both the opening batsmen got out for 50 runs each and CSK, despite losing four wickets, got over the line without much fuss. Ambati Rayudu and Dwayne Bravo were in the middle during the winning moment as the spirited Capitals went down fighting.