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Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Daredevils by one run in IPL
Chennai, April 9
Hosts Chennai Super Kings
defeated Delhi Daredevils by one run in a thrilling Indian Premier
League (IPL) match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday.
Chasing
a 151-run target, Delhi Daredevils, led by a valiant innings from South
African Albie Morkel (73 not out), came within inches of wining the
contest. Requiring a six off the last ball, the left-handed batsman just
managed to score a boundary to lose agonisingly by a run.
Daredevils
run chase began on a wrong note, losing three quick wickets. Veteran
pacer Asish Nehra (3/25) rocked their chase, grabbing the first three
wickets as his intelligent bowling forced the Delhi batsmen into playing
poor strokes.
But Delhi recoverd from the blows due to some
sensible batting from Morkel and Kedar Yadav (20). Together they put on a
48-run fourth wicket stand to steady the Daredevils innings and keep
them in contention.
But Yadav's dismissal in the 14th over
brought this year's IPL's most expensive man Yuvraj singh (9) into the
crease - only to perish soon after miscuing a pull shot.
From
there, Daredevils' hope rested on Morkel's shoulders. He carried his
team to the brink of a win. But in the end the burly all-rounder just
couldn't pull off a morale-boosting victory for the team that finished
bottom of the heap last season.
Earlier, CSK posted 150/7 after Daredevils opted to bowl after winning the toss.
Skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's (30) and his Indian teammate Ravichandran Ashwin
(12 not out) guided the team to the modest total after the home team
struggled to force the pace throughtout their innings.
CSK's hope
for a strong start got an early jolt when New Zealand's World Cup hero
Brendon McCullum (4) was dismissed in the second over.
Newly-married India batsman Suresh Raina (4) also didn't last long.
Some
tight bowling by the Daredevils kept the Chennai batsman on a tight
leash. CSK's desperation to break the shackles got the better of them
and after reaching their 100 in the 13th over, they lost wickets at
regular intervals.
South African Faf du Plessis' (32) dismissal
triggered the downslide. His untimely dismissal, coupled with opener
Dwayne Smith's (34) in the ninth over, meant that CSK's batting momentum
was broken.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 150/7 (Dwayne
Smith 34, Faf du Plessis 32; Natha Coultir Nile 3/30, J.P Duminy 1/15),
Delhi Daredevils 149/9 (Albie Morkel 73 not out, K. Yadav 20; Asish
Nehra 3/25, Dwayne Bravo 1/19).