IPL 2023: CSK become second team to qualify for playoffs with a 77-run victory over DC

NEW DELHI — Four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) became the second team to qualify for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Playoffs after thrashing a listless Delhi Capitals by 77 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.

After Devon Conway hit 87 while Ruturaj Gaikwad slammed 79 while sharing a huge 141-run opening partnership, propelling Chennai to a massive 223/3, the M.S. Dhoni-led side took three wickets in Power-play and made strikes regularly to restrict Delhi to 146/9, despite David Warner waging a lone battle with a fighting 86.

In such a tall chase, Delhi needed big runs from the word go, but the opposite happened of it in the Power-play. Prithvi Shaw mistimed his loft to mid-off against Tushar Deshpande while Deepak Chahar had Phil Salt chipping straight to cover and Rilee Rossouw chopping onto his stumps on consecutive deliveries as Delhi were in tatters at 26/3 in 4.5 overs.

But Warner waged a lone battle, smashing boundaries off Deshpande and Chahar with ease, before ending Power-play with a pulled six off Maheesh Theekshana. The Delhi skipper hoicked Ravindra Jadeja for six, before taking boundaries off him and Theekshana to reach his fifty in 32 balls, despite losing Yash Dhull, who miscued to backward point off the left-arm spinner.

Axar Patel’s great nick with the bat continued by driving off Matheesha Pathirana for four and hitting a straight six down the ground off Jadeja. Warner punched and hoicked Jadeja for four and six, before reverse-sweeping off him for another maximum in the 13th over yielding 23 runs.

Chahar provided the breakthrough by having Axar Patel hole out to long-on. Though Warner and Aman Khan hit a four each off Deshpande, the latter mistimed one to extra cover off Pathirana. Warner finally fell in the 19th over when he holed out to long-on off Pathirana, followed by Theekshana taking two more wickets to add more joy to Chennai’s perfect day on the field.