Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan star in Delhi Capitals win

Mumbai, April 10

Delhi Capitals romped to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in the second match of IPL-14 here tonight, courtesy stunning strokeplay by openers Prithvi Shaw (72 off 38 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (85 off 54).

Chasing 189 for victory, Delhi Capitals got off to a magnificent start as Shaw and Dhawan scored at over 10 runs an over during their partnership of 138 in only 13.3 overs. The two matched each other stroke for stroke right from the first over, but Shaw struck three fours in the fifth over, from Shardul Thakur, to move ahead. Shaw got lucky when he was dropped on 38 and 47, both times off Moeen Ali.

It was Ali who finally caught Shaw, off Dwayne Bravo, but by then the damage had been done and only 51 more were needed off 39 balls. Dhawan then hit a string of fours to bring the equation down to 22 off 22 balls. The left-hander was dismissed then, lbw to Thakur, but the target was too paltry by then to trouble Delhi Capitals.

Raina’s 54, Dhoni’s 0

Earlier, making a comeback to the IPL, Suresh Raina blazed to a 36-ball 54, powering CSK to 188/7. Sam Curran smashed 34 off only 15 balls to propel the CSK innings towards the end. Curran hit four fours and two sixes. The last five overs yielded 52 runs for CSK, thanks to Curran's power-packed innings.

After CSK were asked to bat first by Rishabh Pant, they lost their openers with only seven runs on the board. Moeen Ali then got set, hitting four fours and two sixers in 36 off 24 balls, adding 53 runs off 6.2 overs with Raina. Raina then had useful partnerships with Ambati Rayudu (23 off 16) and Ravindra Jadeja (26 not out off 17). CSK captain MS Dhoni lasted only two balls, dragging the ball to his stumps as he tried to pull Avesh Khan. — TNS, Agencies