After a resounding win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur, Delhi Capitals (DC) were once again given a reality check in New Delhi. Inconsistency is one thing that plagues the Capitals and a wretched home record as well. Those came back to haunt them as the Capitals went down to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 8 wickets. CSK registered their second consecutive win and kept staying at 6th place with 5 wins and 5 losses. DC now has 4 wins in 10 games and are in 7th place. There were loads of areas where DC were found wanting and we will analyse them for you.
Losing 5/69 inside the first 11 overs halted DC’s progress
It was Delhi captain Axar Patel who won the toss and elected to bat first on a dry looking wicket in New Delhi. He would have hoped Capitals would have done well from the start but that did not exactly how it turned out to be. The openers KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka gave the team a solid start and looked fluent out there. But they could add 29 runs for the first wicket in 4 overs before Nissanka fell to Mukesh Choudhary.
KL Rahul soon fell inside the power play as Akeal Hosein got his man as the Capitals lost both their openers in the power play. After 6 overs, DC at the end of the power play were 37/2. Thereafter, CSK slowly tightened the screws in the middle phase of the game. Karun Nair and Nitish Rana got starts but could not keep it going. Nair fell at the completion of the 8th over. Nitish Rana too followed suit in the 10th over and captain Axar Patel fell in the 11th over.
DC slipped to 69/5 in 11 overs and with a lot of work to do at this stage. Tristan Stubbs was dropped by Noor of Gurjapneet and he made the most of the miss by contributing well while Impact Player Sameer Rizvi scored a rollicking 40 runs. The recovery came and DC got to 155. But because of the horrible start, DC were still around 15-20 short of a match-winning score. 155 was competitive but never going to be enough as CSK proved later on. DC will have to revisit their thinking and bat better in the subsequent matches, especially the top order.
Inability to dismiss Sanju Samson dents DC’s chances
After posting 155 on the board, DC would have hoped for early wickets and put CSK under the pump. While they did get rid of Ruturaj Gaikwad for 6 off 12 balls, they could not find way to dismiss Sanju Samson. Gaikwad went inside the first 4 overs scoring just 6 off 12 balls Urvil Patel came in and played his shots and scored a quickfire knock of 17 off 9 balls. CSK were in a spot of bother at 45/2 in the 7th over as Kartik Sharma came to the crease.
This is where Sanju Samson came to the party and played a mature hand in the end. Sanju took his time initially when he was batting inside the power play and then accelerated through the middle overs. Kartik too was going slowly as the rate required was not an issue. He later played his shots. But Sanju was a class apart and looked the most fluent player across both teams. He was brilliant.
DC did not have any answers to rattle him and lacked creative ideas. Starc and Ngidi bowled a probing first spell. But there was no follow-up from the other bowlers. Axar Patel bowled well as well. But the incisiveness and control was missing as Sanju has scored 199 runs across two innings against DC this season. Going ahead, we expect the Delhi bowlers make further inroads and make a match out of these middling total they post. They should not make this a one-sided contest.
Form of Kuldeep Yadav, a big concern for DC and beyond as well
Another important area where DC is struggling is the form of Kuldeep Yadav this season. Kuldeep who is the wicket-taker for the Capitals has looked a pale shadow of himself. He has blown cold this season and there is no match-winning contribution from him yet. He has been targeted by the opposition batters and so far he does not have any response to tackle it right now. While Axar Patel is doing his job, Kuldeep is going for runs way too easily.
In the game played in New Delhi last night, Kuldeep Yadav came into the attack post the power play and went for runs straightaway. Rather than creating pressure on the opposition, he was creating pressure on himself and releasing it from the opposition. Too many loose balls that deserved to be punished was dealt with as Sanju Samson was waiting for it and took on Kuldeep. Every batter was hitting it and ever since the IPL began, he has not been able to replicate his past success.
The only hope now is for Kuldeep getting back to his best as that will help Delhi perform a tad better. He is a crucial cog in the middle overs in T20s. He needs to go back to the drawing board and find out solutions to his problems. Add to his issues, T Natarajan was taken to the cleaners by Sanju and Kartik as well which deepened the woes. Axar, Starc and Ngidi bowled well, but these two were taken to the cleaners and the target was less than 160 which was easily achieved. One hopes, Kuldeep bounces back soon and get amongst the wickets.
What Lies Ahead
DC will stay on in New Delhi and will host KKR on May 8th i.e. Friday night at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. CSK plays next on Sunday afternoon against bottom-placed LSG in Chennai in what will be their first of two back-to-back clashes against LSG. More action coming our way tonight with SRH hosting PBKS in Hyderabad. SRH in 3rd place with 12 points while PBKS have 13 points in 1st place. SRH have already played 10 games while Punjab will be playing their 10th game. Whoever wins goes top of the points table for now.
Let’s see how things unfold later tonight in Hyderabad.
Also Read: DC vs CSK: Sanju Samson’s Masterclass Helps CSK Upstage DC