New Delhi | Sanju Samson paced his unbeaten 87 off 52 balls perfectly on a tricky track as Chennai Super Kings kept themselves relevant in the Indian Premier League with an eight-wicket win over a self-destructing Delhi Capitals here on Tuesday.
After opting to bat, DC's struggles with the bat at home continued as they ended with a below par 155 for seven on a pitch offering assistance to the spinners with odd ball holding up.
Samson and Kartik Sharma (41 not out off 31 balls) forged a 114-run unbroken partnership off 66 balls for the third wicket, taking CSK home in 17.3 overs for their fifth win of the season. For DC, the road to play-offs got a lot tougher with their sixth loss in 10 matches.
While the CSK spin duo of Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmad excelled, DC's lead spinner Kuldeep Yadav conceded 34 runs in his three overs. He was hit for four sixes in those 18 balls, releasing all the pressure DC had put on the opposition by limiting them to 44 for one in the powerplay.
While skipper Axar Patel did the containing job well, Kuldeep failed to get a wicket in the middle overs to make it easier for CSK. Trump card Mitchell Starc was not able to strike early on though Lungi Ngidi removed Ruturaj Gaikwad in his opening over.
It seemed Samson had it all figured out in his head. Having laboured to 15 off his first 17 balls, he targeted Kuldeep post the powerplay to anchor the chase for his team. His innings included half a dozen sixes.
The opener has also struck two hundreds in his debut season for the storied franchise.
Earlier, DC's free fall began with the loss of opener Pathum Nissanka who failed to clear the mid-on fielder off a slower ball from left-arm pacer Mukesh Choudhary.
Both Nissanka (19 off 15 balls) and K L Rahul (12 off 13 balls) began with crisp boundaries but did not last long. After Nissanka, Rahul attempted an inside-out hit off left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein but could not get to the pitch of the ball on the charge to be caught by opposition captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.
DC laboured to 37 for two in the powerplay with Hosein bowling half of the overs, including one from the other end that produced the wicket of Rahul.
With DC's innings not gaining any momentum, the crowd, mostly in yellow supporting CSK and M S Dhoni, who did not even travel for the game, built more pressure on the 'home team'. Chants of 'CSK, CSK' were heard regularly during the innings.
With a poor batting performance like that, it seemed DC had not overcome the mental demons of 75 all out in their last game here.
After the powerplay, another spinner Noor Ahmad dominated the opposition, removing Karun Nair and Nitish Rana, who both fell to a poorly executed sweep shot.
Axar had the ideal opportunity to make an impact with the bat but fell to a soft dismissal, offering a sitter to the cover fielder off a Gurjapneet Singh ball that appeared to stop on him. DC were then reeling at 69 for five in 11 overs.
Tristan Stubbs (38 off 31 balls) and impact player Sameer Rizvi (40 not out off 24 balls) hit a flurry of sixes to take the innings forward in their 65-run stand but the damage done in the first half of the game could not be reversed as DC ended with an underwhelming total.
