Hetmyer remains steady as Delhi Capitals secure 10th win
Shimron Hetmyer held his nerve and played a valuable knock of 28 as Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to secure their 10th win of the IPL 2021 season on Monday.
The West Indies left-handed batsman played under pressure in the match that helped DC moved to the top of the points table.
Earlier, in the chase of 137, Prithvi Shaw played some attractive shots before Deepak Chahar struck in the third over to give CSK their first breakthrough.
Shikhar Dhawan counter-attacked as he went after Chahar in the fifth over, creaming two fours and as many sixes. But CSK struck back in the final over of the powerplay as Josh Hazlewood dismissed Shreyas Iyer.
While DC skipper Rishabh Pant moved to 15 in no time, he got out in the 10th over as Ravindra Jadeja scalped his first wicket. Debutant Ripal Patel and Dhawan then took DC past 90 before Jadeja got Ripal out. Shardul then bowled a doublewicket 15th over, dismissing Ravi Ashwin and Dhawan as CSK reduced DC to 99/6.
Hetmyer and Axar Patel kept the DC in the hunt, putting up a game-changing 36-run stand.
While CSK kept the game tight, a dropped catch in the 18th over meant that Hetmyer got a reprieve.
Although Axar got out in the final over, DC reached the mark with two balls to spare.
CSK, who were put in to bat, made three changes to their team as Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo and Robin Uthappa replaced K.M. Asif, Sam Curran and Suresh Raina. DC, on the other hand, brought in debutant Ripal Patel in place of Steve Smith.
CSK’s eventful first over saw a close DRS call for Ruturaj Gaikwad, a streaky four, a solid cover drive and 16 runs being scored.
But DC did not have to wait for too long to scalp the first CSK wicket, as Axar dismissed Faf du Plessis in the third over. Two overs later, Anrich Nortje got Ruturaj Gaikwad out.
The Rishabh Pant-led unit continued to chip away as Axar and Ashwin had the better of Moeen Ali and Uthappa, respectively, to reduce CSK to 62/4.
CSK needed a partnership to rebuild the innings and the duo of Ambati Rayudu and captain MS Dhoni provided just that. The pair took the game deep and helped CSK cross the 100-run mark in the 17th over.
The two completed a 50-run stand as Rayudu creamed a four and six off Avesh Khan in the 18th over.
Rayudu then added a four and a six more to his account in the penultimate over and brought up a fine half-century before CSK went on to post 136/5 on the board.