Ton-up Shikhar Dhawan guides Delhi Capitals to a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings

Shikhar
Dhawan brought up his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) hundred and Axar Patel
smoked three sixes in the last over to seal a five-wicket win for the Delhi Capitals over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium
on Saturday.

With Delhi
needing 17 off the last over, and two left-handed batsmen at the crease, CSK
skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni made the questionable decision of opting to bowl
left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

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The move
backfired in the end, as Patel cleared the fence thrice in the over to cap
Delhi’s seventh win of the season, lifting them over Mumbai Indians to the top of
the table.

Dhawan was given
a number of lifelines en route to his greatest-ever IPL innings. He was dropped
by Deepak Chahar and Ambati Rayudu apart from surviving a half-chance as skipper
Dhoni was unable to collect a low catch. He also had a caught-behind decision overturned
on 99.

The Indian opener
made the most of the chances afforded to him as he stayed in the middle till
the very end as Delhi chased down the 180-run target with five wickets and a
ball to spare.

Earlier, Chahar piled up misery on 20-year-old opener Prithvi Shaw, who
chipped a swinging delivery straight back at the bowler for an easy caught-and-bowled.
He then dismissed Ajinkya Rahane in the fifth over to as Delhi were put under
early pressure.

Shreyas
Iyer (23 from 23) could not play with his usual, aggressive style as he was
picked out in the deep by Faf du Plessis while trying to dispatch Dwayne Bravo
over the long-on boundary. Marcus Stoinis scored a quick-fire 24 from 24
deliveries before falling to Shardul Thakur.

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Earlier, Rayudu (45 from 25) and Ravindra Jadeja (33 from 13) added 50 runs for
the fifth wicket in 23 balls as Chennai finished with a commanding 179-run
total on a slow Sharjah surface.

du Plessis also continued his fine form at the
top of the CSK batting order with his third fifty this season, scoring 58 runs
in 47 balls.

He added 87
runs for the second wicket with Shane Watson (36 from 28) after Sam Curran
departed for a duck in the first over.

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Dhoni’s (3 from 5) batting woes this
season continued as a faint edge from an Anrich Nortje delivery put an end to
his short stay in the middle.

The loss
leaves them stranded at sixth on the table with as many points, wo just three
of nine matches so far.

They will
look to continue their hunt for a playoff spot on Monday, when they face
fellow-strugglers Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi. Delhi will next be in action on
Tuesday, when they take on the Kings XI Punjab.