Sharjah, Oct 17 (UNI) Brilliant knocks by Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu powered Chennai Super Kings to a fighting total of 179-4 against Delhi Capitals in the 34th match of IPL 2020, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Saturday.
Du Plessis scored 58 off 47 while Rayudu scored 45 not out off 25. Apart from Du Plessis and Rayudu, Shane Watson (36 off 28) Ravindra Jadeja (33 not out off 13) also made valuable contributions with the bat for CSK.
After winning toss and opting to bat first, CSK were off to a bad start as Sam Curran departed for a duck in the 1st over.
Shane Watson joined Faf du Plessis in the middle after Curran's wicket. The duo batted sensibly and took CSK to 39/1 at the end of powerplay.
Both Du Plessis and Watson played dealt in boundaries and changed the momentum for CSK in the middle overs. The duo were going strong but Anrich removed dangerous Shane Watson (36 off 28) to break a 87-run partnership for the second wicket between Du Plessis and Watson.
Dhawan dropped a relatively simple catch off Du Plessis but took a great catch later as Rabada got the big wicket.
Rayudu did struggle for a while when he was charging down the pitch against all the deliveries. But, once he got his eye in, he played a gem of an innings.
DC would have been the happier side when Dhoni was scalped for 3 in the 17th over, but Jadeja played a quickfire innings.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu went berserk towards the end and their 50-run partnership off 21 balls fired CSK to an impressive 179-run total at the end of 20 overs.
Rabada (1/33) and Nortje (2/44) , one of the best pace duo this season conceded 32 off the last two overs.
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