New Delhi: Chennai Super Kings opener Dwayne Smith handed Delhi Daredevils a lesson in guts, classy batting and a super cool approach, guiding the team to an eight-wicket win in their Indian Premier League match here on Monday evening.
The rampaging West Indian sparkled in the 178-run chase, which was stamped with class and brilliant cricketing shots. His 79-run knock (51 balls) was studded with eight huge sixes and four hits to the fence.
Suresh Raina (47 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (12 not out) provided the finishing touch as Chennai chased down the target in 19.4 overs, highlighting their all-round strength. The day’s victory consolidated their lead at the top of the table with 12 points from seven matches.
Smith and McCullum, the tournament’s most successful opening partnership so far, started confidently. Chennai were 82/1 when McCullum fell, but with a total of 178 to chase, it needed the batsmen to take risks and go for big shots.
Smith slammed Jaydev Unadkat for three consecutive sixes in the fourth over, but there were periods when the boundaries were completely missing. Wayne Parnell was difficult to decipher — his first two over conceding just six runs — while Shahbaz Nadeem (0/27) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (1/37) too managed to contain the batsmen.
Chennai needed a special knock at this stage and Smith ensured he was their man on the day. The soaring asking rate never troubled the West Indian, who hit shots all over the park.
It was heartbreak for the hosts, who had initially done well to come up with 178/5. This was Delhi’s fifth loss in seven games.
Scoreboard
Delhi Daredevils: Quinton de Kock (run out) 24, Murali Vijay c du Plessis b Jadeja 35, Kevin Pietersen b Mohit 0, Dinesh Karthik c Sharma b Hilfenhaus 51, L. Shukla c Pandey b Ashwin 0, J.P. Duminy (not out) 28, K. Jadhav (not out) 29. Extras (lb6, w5) 11. Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 178.
Fall of Wicket: 1-36, 2-37, 3-108, 4-119, 5-120.
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 4-0-34-1, Pandey 3-1-26-0, Mohit 4-0-51-1, Jadeja 4-0-23-1, Ashwin 4-0-29-1, Smith 1-0-9-0.
Chennai Super Kings: D. Smith c Vijay b Parnell 79, B. McCullum c Vijay b Shukla 32, S. Raina (not out) 47, M. Dhoni (not out) 12. Extras (b 4, lb 5, w 2) 11. Total (for two wickets in 19.4 overs) 181.
Fall of Wicket: 1-82, 2-168.
Bowling: Mohammed Shami 4-0-42-0, Wayne Parnell 4-0-25-1, Jaydev Unadkat 3.4-0-47-0, Shadab Nadeem 4-0-27-0, Laxmi Ratan Shukla 4-0-31-1.
