Watson (78 off 40) and Dhoni (51* off 22) gave a masterclass in power hitting to fire Chennai to 211 for four after Delhi opted to field on a good batting surface
Chennai cricketer Shane Watson plays a shot during the T20 2018 cricket match between Chennai and Delhi at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune/AFP
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Shane Watson and MS Dhoni scored scintillating half-centuries to set up a 13-run win over Delhi here tonight, taking the two-time T20 champions closer to a playoff berth. Watson (78 off 40) and Dhoni (51* off 22) gave a masterclass in power hitting to fire Chennai to 211 for four after Delhi opted to field on a good batting surface.
Needing more than 10 an over put scoreboard pressure on the visitors and they wilted under pressure. Rishabh Pant (79 off 45) and Vijay Shankar (51* off 31) ensured Delhi get closer to the target but it was not enough as they ended at 198 for five. Chennai pacer Lungi Ngidi impressed on his T20 debut, ending with figures of one for 26 in four overs.
It was Delhi's sixth loss in eight games and now they are all but out of the playoff race. With the sixth win in eight games, Chennai further consolidated their position at the top of the points table. They are tied on 12 points with Hyderabad. Delhi kept losing wickets in the chase and at 74 for four in ninth over, it was all over for them.
Earlier, Watson was back to his brutal best after three low scores and shared a 102-run opening off 66 balls stand with Faf du Plessis (33) after surviving a close lbw call on the first ball of the match. Dhoni showed his devastating touch in the last five overs which produced 74 runs. It was also Dhoni's second fastest fifty in the T20.
At the top of the order, Watson was unstoppable after Boult almost had him trapped in front of the stumps with a pacy inswinger at the start of the match. The visiting team took the DRS but the third umpire did not have conclusive evidence to overrule the not out call of the on-field umpire.
It was also a bit surprising that the tournament's leading run scorer Ambati Rayudu (41 off 24) did not open the innings with Watson.
However, the Watson-Du Plessis duo produced the desired result for the Chennai who raced to 100 in just 10.2 overs. Watson, who hit a hundred earlier in the tournament, got going by depositing Liam Plunkett for two sixes in the fifth over that eventually leaked 20 runs.
Watson hammered as many as seven sixes with most of them coming straight or over square leg. When the former Australian all-rounder departed, the dangerous combination of Rayudu and Dhoni got together in the 14th over. The captain got into the act with successive sixes off Boult, one over mid-wicket and other-other one from a bottom-handed jab over long on. The third one was a whip off Avesh Khan over square leg, almost going out of the ground. He ended up with five sixes and two fours.
Rayudu too made sure the big hits kept coming as he hit five fours and a six in his entertaining cameo. His fourth-wicket stand of 79 with Dhoni came off just 36 balls.
The Chennai skipper was able to complete a third half-century of the T20-11 with a double off the final ball of the innings. The Delhi bowlers were all over the place especially the experienced overseas pair of Boult and Plunkett, who leaked 100 runs in seven overs.
Dhoni made as many four changes in the playing eleven, bringing in du Plessis, Karn Sharma, Ngidi and young Kerala pacer KM Asif. Delhi, on the other hand, did not make any changes after the win against Kolkata at home.
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