IPL 7: Chennai Super Kings humiliate Delhi Daredevils for their 6th consecutive win

DelhiIt was deja vu for Daredevils as Chennai Super Kings thrashed them for the second time in the seventh edition of IPL While they had beaten the Daredevils by 93 runs during the UAE leg the MS Dhoniled outfit on Monday thrashed Kevin Pietersens team by 8 wicketsDwayne Smith cracked a blistering 79 as a dominant Chennai steamrolled Delhi for their sixth straight win in the Indian Premier League Chasing a competitive 179run target CSK overhauled the target with two balls to spare as the West Indies batsman led the chase with his 51ball knock that was embellished with eight sixes and four hits to the fenceDwayne Smith laid the foundation for CSKs win with a wellconstructed 79 off 51 balls against DD Such was Smiths domination that he plundered boundaries at will and spared no DD bowler during his entertaining knockHe departed in the 19th over when his side needed 11 runs off 8 balls and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni ensured that there was no twist in the script keeping his reputation as a fantastic finisher intactDhoni hit the lacklustre Jaydev Unadkat for a six in the second ball and followed it up with a couple and a boundary through extra cover to yet again score the winning runs for his sideBrendon McCullum 32 and Suresh Raina 47 not out off 26 too contributed in CSKs win supporting the rampaging West Indian wellLight shower made it a pleasant evening for the fans but for Daredevils it continues to be gloomy affair as it became difficult to grip the wet ballWith this win CSK have strengthened their position at the top while Delhi will now find it extremely difficult to go beyond the first stage of the tournamentEarlier Dinesh Karthik led a collective batting effort with a fighting 51 as Delhi Daredevils scored a competitive 178 for five against Chennai Super KingsIt was one of the better pitches seen at Kotla in recent times making it possible to have a good contest between ball and batInitially it helped pacers while gradually strokemaking became easierKarthik combined well with Murali Vijay 35 for a splendid 71run partnership for the third wicket after a shaky startJP Duminy 28 no and Kedar Jadhav 29 no provided superb finishing touches with their fiery cameos as DD put on their best total of the season on board after being put into batDuminy blasted paceman Mohit Sharma for four boundaries in a row in the 18th over while Jadhav finished the innings with a flourish by hitting the same bowler for two sixes and a four in the final overDinesh Karthik of Delhi Daredevils plays a reverse shot as CSKs captian wicketkeeper M S Dhoni looks on during their IPL tie at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on MondayThe two batsmen raised an unbeaten 58run stand in only 54 oversThe DD openers took some time to settle as the ball was seaming a bit initially but after getting their eye in they cut looseYoung paceman Ishwar Pandey bowled a rare maiden over but he was taken to task in his next by Quinton de Kock who hit him for two sixes after Vijay struck a magnificent straight boundaryThe South African southpaw needlessly ran himself out while attempting a third runSkipper Kevin Pietersen failed to come out of his lean patch as he was dismissed for a golden duck The England batsman failed to read the line of a Mohit delivery and found his stumps shattered in the processDespite losing two quick wickets Daredevils maintained a decent run rate if not greatKarthik creamed off a six and four off Ravindra Jadeja to take 13 runs in the ninth over and one of Vijays shots rocketed to the cover boundary as the hosts reached 75 for 2 at halfway stageThe Tamil Nadu batsmen continued the same way against pacemen as he hammered a full toss from Mohit Sharma to midwicket six after hitting a straight boundary off the same bowlerKarthik completed his 50 with a majestic cover drive This was after he had lofted the Australian paceman with a wellcalculated paddle for a sixHowever his brilliant innings was a cut short when Mohit plucked one inches off the ground in the last ball of that overVijay from the other end kept scoring at a brisk pace His switchhit off Ashwin was a treat to watchThe hosts though lost him too when he failed to connect off Jadeja while attempting a straight shotTwo set batsmen were back in the dug out and it did affect DDs run scoringThey also lost Laxmi Ratan Shukla 0 trying an ugly looking hoickBut Duminy brought respectability to the total with his fiery knock towards the end He blasted Mohit for four consecutive bolundaries to reel of 17 runs from the 18th over