MS Dhoni, who came to bat for the first time in the season, gave a glimpse of vintage Dhoni with long hair.
Delhi Capitals defeated Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs to register their first win of the season in the second match of the Super Sunday doubleheader in IPL 2024. The heroes of this victory for Delhi were their captain Rishabh Pant (51) and opener David Warner (52). Both scored half-centuries and took their team above the score of 190.
Prithvi Shaw also played a brilliant innings of 43 runs in 27 balls on his comeback. In bowling, while Khaleel Ahmed took two wickets with the new ball, Mukesh Kumar wreaked havoc in the death overs with the old ball and didn’t allow CSK to make a comeback in this game.
Rishabh Pant is Back
Though many batters and bowlers of Delhi performed well in this match, the most special innings for them was that of their captain Rishabh Pant. He was returning to the cricket field after almost 1.5 years this season and in the last two matches, he showed a little glimpse of the old Pant.
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However, this match should be considered as Pant’s complete comeback match. In this innings, he also played a one-handed slog, fell on the wicket while scooping, and dropped his bat while playing a shot. Pant is known for all these things.
He started cautiously and scored just 23 runs in the first 23 balls with a four and a six. But then he changed gears and completed his half-century in just 31 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. Although he was out on the next ball, by then he had managed to save the faltering Delhi innings.
Vintage Dhoni is Back at Vizag
Apart from Rishabh Pant, Chennai captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s innings was also a special highlight of this match, who came out to bat for the first time this season. He entertained the audience a lot by hitting a four on the very first ball and then some more spectacular shots and showed a glimpse of vintage Dhoni with long hair.
However, he could not take his team to victory and he ended his inning with 37 runs in just 16 balls, which included four boundaries and three beautiful sixes including a vintage one-handed deep mid-wicket six.
Turning Point of The Match
While this match will be remembered for the innings of Pant and Dhoni, the turning point of this match was Mukesh Kumar’s over, who came in with the old ball in the 14th over of Chennai’s innings.
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He first deceived the well-played Ajinkya Rahane (45) with his slower delivery and then on the very next ball, Sameer Rizvi, who had batted brilliantly in the previous match, became his victim. By dismissing the in-form Shivam Dubey in his very next over, Mukesh put an end to any possibility of a comeback for Chennai.
DC’s First Win, CSK’s First Loss
With this win, Delhi registered their first win of the season and this was Chennai’s first loss. Although this will not have much impact on the points table, Delhi’s team would like to maintain this winning streak and Pant’s form to continue, which is a good sign not only for him but also for Indian cricket. Dhoni’s innings showed that even though he does not come out to bat early, he can still hit long sixes.
