END OF OVER:
20 | 17 Runs 1 Wkt | DC: 149/9 (2 runs required, RR: 7.45)

  • Albie Morkel73 (55b)
  • Domnic Muthuswami0 (0b)
  • Dwayne Bravo4-0-36-2
  • Ashish Nehra4-0-25-3

Glad to see Dhoni call it as he saw it. He knew Bravo bowled a poor last over, and they were lucky in the end. Although the two runs saved by Raina were no luck. And what about Nehra. The only Indian bowler who doesn't try to preserve his body, and bowls yorkers, the most taxing delivery in cricket. Well, Ashok Dinda does too, but he misses more often than he would like. Not only did Nehra take the early wickets, he executed those yorkers in the 19th over. Ashish, "You still got it." That's all we have for you tonight, this is Sidharth Monga saying goodbye

"You have to hold on to your nerves," says MS Dhoni. "I thought the last one was in the slot, and Bravo won't be happy with the ball he bowled, but it is good to win close games. Nehra is good, at times he is prone to injuries, but he backs himself, which is good for a fast bowler. It is good to see him the way he bowls. He has kept himself fit. He is one Indian pace who bowls pace effortlessly. It was important to win because this was our first match here in a long time. Not just for us, but for the crowd, because they appreciate opposition too. A crowd you want to do well in front of."

"The way we started we were definitely 15-20 short," says Ashish Nehra, the Man of the Match. "In T20 games every run is important. You can see the score so that run-out was important. A good start. These two points will count in the end. These are the games you want to win.."

"Unbelievable,". says JP Duminy. "Game of small margins. Proud of the boys. We will take a lot of learning out today. We just kept saying the gameplan is to keep taking wickets. They came hard at us, but we kept taking wickets. Feeling very good. Obviously we would have liked to win, but still a long time to go. A lot of learnings here."

Dhoni is taking a stump back with him, but it is Raina's fielding in the last over that has saved them. First he took that catch under pressure, but then that great piece of fielding to keep Morkel down to two. That came after that bad spinning bounce at deep point. Apart from that I am struggling to think of a worse final over where Bravo kept bowling length balls. No slower ball, no yorker, no bouncer. Everything in Morkel's slot. He should be disappointed he hit only one of them for a six. The scoreboard will say a one-run margin, but the cricket wasn't of high quality. There was more luck involved than cause and effect. In the first innings, Dhoni mis-hit two sixes in the final over. In the second, Bravo bowled a much worse final over, but Morkel didn't exploit it well enough. And the turnaround began with some catching practise given by Kedar Jadhav off a short and wide ball, which should have been cut away for four. You can't take it away from Super Kings fielders, though. Raina was pure gold. Those two runs he saved have win Super Kings the match

19.6
4
Bravo to Morkel, FOUR, He misses by six feet. Bravo has played with fire here, but he has been lucky Morkel is exhausted. He has bowled six length balls to a man who loves length balls. Final ball is on a length too. It is outside off, he drives it hard, and in the air, and wide of long-off, but it falls six feet inside the rope

Morkel just about made it with the second. Dhoni and Nehra having a long conversation. Lets Morkel draw his breath. Bravo needs to be told to stop bowling length

19.5
2
Bravo to Morkel, 2 runs, Raina has done really well here. Bravo continues bowling length, Morkel drives it over point, Raina gets across, gets a bad spinning bounce in the end, but saves two runs with his dive
19.4
6
Bravo to Morkel, SIX, this is poor bowling. Bravo has been getting away with this for far too length. Normal paced length ball after normal paced length ball. Morkel connects this time. Over midwicket for six

Can Morkel find any strength? Can Bravo move away from his swinging zone and not bowl length?

19.3
W
Bravo to Imran Tahir, OUT, Tahir slogs, mis-ihts a length ball, he top-edges it to deep midwicket, and Tahir has done half his job of getting off strike, but has managed no run off it. Easy catch for Raina at deep midwicket

Imran Tahir c Raina b Bravo 2 (5m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100

19.2
1
Bravo to Morkel, 1 run, ordinary bowling again, but Morkel doesn't have any length left. Short ball, waist high, right in his slogging arc, but he mis-hits this to long-on, and he is off strike
19.1
4
Bravo to Morkel, FOUR, lucky runs. Poor ball, though. Wide length ball, Morkel goes hard at it, gets a thick edge wide of the keeper, and he gets four. This might be the Franklin finish. Remember he once chased 20 in the last over with all mis-hits

Bravo to bowl the last over. Getting Morkel off strike might be the end of the game

END OF OVER:
19 | 8 Runs 1 Wkt | DC: 132/8 (19 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 6.94, RRR: 19.00)

  • Imran Tahir2 (1b)
  • Albie Morkel56 (50b)
  • Ashish Nehra4-0-25-3
  • Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-25-1

Nehra 4-0-25-3. Check again. Still got it. Only Indian bowler this side of 2000 who bowls yorkers consistently

18.6
2
Nehra to Imran Tahir, 2 runs, Tahir swings, manages to beat mid-off with the mis-hit, comes back for the second

Tahir is the new batsman. The instruction will be to just hit. Don't take odd number of runs

18.5
1
Nehra to Morkel, 1 run, nearly a yorker outside off, Morkel hits hard but he can't mid-off. The single he takes is a lazy one, and McCullum's throw would have got him had he hit the stumps

"This commentator is a wrestling fan... Michael Cole's replacement on announcer's desk maybe?" Yes, Makran, wee need to get rid of Cole. And Nehra, "you still got it"

18.5
W
Nehra to Mishra, 1 wide, OUT, poor from Mishra. Nehra bowls a bouncer, which is a wide, but Mishra is not looking at his parter who has rushed up for the bye that gives him the strike. Mishra is run out because a) he is a slow runner, and b) he is not alert to the run. Good presence of mind from Dhoni, lobbing the throw to Nehra

A Mishra run out 4 (6m 4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100

18.4
2
Nehra to Mishra, 2 runs, short of a length, he makes room to dab this to the left of point, right of third man, comes back for two
18.3
1
Nehra to Morkel, 1 run, low full toss. He has erred on the full side, but he has a deep midwicket in place to keep this down to one
18.2
0
Nehra to Morkel, no run, yorker from Nehra. "You still got it". Lovely delivery. Morkel is looking to open up the leg side, but the yorker gives him nothing. Morkel digs it out, but turns down the single
18.1
1
Nehra to Mishra, 1 run, Mishra pushes this length ball to point and gives up. Other batsmen make this single easy, he has given up. Jadeja's throw misses, though, and they get the single

Nehra comes back

END OF OVER:
18 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | DC: 124/7 (27 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.88, RRR: 13.50)

  • Amit Mishra1 (2b)
  • Albie Morkel54 (47b)
  • Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-25-1
  • Dwayne Bravo3-0-19-1
17.6
1
Ashwin to Mishra, 1 run, opens the face on this one, gets a single to point. Ashwin has tipped this game in Super Kings' favour in his last over
17.5
0
Ashwin to Mishra, no run, slow offbreak, wide outside off too, draws him wide, Mishra defends

Mishra is in. He is not the best runner between the wickets

17.4
W
Ashwin to Coulter-Nile, OUT, and Ashwin has that wicket. Coulter-Nile makes up his mind to slog-sweep, Ashwin fires one in full and fast, and it squeezes under the bat to knock the stumps back. Ashwin has again done the job for his captain. All down to former Super Kings player Morkel now for Daredevils

NM Coulter-Nile b Ashwin 5 (12m 4b 1x4 0x6) SR: 125

17.3
1
Ashwin to Morkel, 1 run, short of a length, punched down to long-on for one
17.3
1w
Ashwin to Morkel, 1 wide, backs away early, makes him fire one down leg, and then moves inside it to draw a wide. That's street-cricket batting
17.2
2
Ashwin to Morkel, 2 runs, down the wicket, slogs, mis-hits wide of long-on, gets a second, Dhoni not happy with his fielder, Bravo
17.1
0
Ashwin to Morkel, no run, smart bowling. Morkel has been backing away, Ashwin follows him, cramps him up, draws a dot

Thirty-two required off the last three. Ashwin and Nehra have one each. Bravo has one. Only Nehra bowls yorkers out of the three. Ashwin the first one to bowl out. If Daredevils don't give him a wicket, they are the favourites

END OF OVER:
17 | 9 Runs | DC: 119/6 (32 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.00, RRR: 10.66)

  • Albie Morkel51 (44b)
  • Nathan Coulter-Nile5 (3b)
  • Dwayne Bravo3-0-19-1
  • Ishwar Pandey4-0-30-1
16.6
1
Bravo to Morkel, 1 run, short of a length, wide, punched away to deep cover for one
16.5
2
Bravo to Morkel, 2 runs, short and wide, slightly off pace, which means he gets a bottom edge, but that also means it goes slowly to deep midwicket, and he comes back for the second to bring up his fifty. He is on his haunches. It is hot and humid. He is tired, but he has a job to finish
16.4
1
Bravo to Coulter-Nile, 1 run, length ball, angling in, worked to square leg in the circle, but they take a single

The crowd chants "Bra-vo, Bra-vo"

16.3
1
Bravo to Morkel, 1 run, full and straight, driven down the ground, Bravo sticks his foot out, they take a single off the ricochet. He has saved three runs because mid-off was up
16.2
0
Bravo to Morkel, no run, short of a length, angling away, beats this open face
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    Plays of the day from the match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils in Chennai

Strangling act

6

No. of times CSK have defended totals of 150 or less in the IPL - only KKR (7) have defended such totals more often.

Slow

43

Balls taken by Albie Morkel for his fifty - his previous-two IPL fifties had come in 26 balls.

Dhoni the Keeper

67

Number of dismissals for MS Dhoni in the IPL, the joint-most for any keeper, with Adam Gilchrist.

Trouble Chasing

12

Number of times Delhi have successfully chased down a 150+ target, the fewest among teams that have played in all IPLs

Wily Mishra

16

Number of times Mishra has had a batsman stumped in the IPL, four more than any other bowler.

Jaddu the Bunny

4

Number of times Mishra has dismissed Jadeja in T20s, more than he has dismissed any other batsmen

Skipping along

8

Number of consecutive IPL seasons where MS Dhoni has captained his side. No other player has done this.

Last long really long

268

T20s played by Albie Morkel, more than any other player, going past Kieron Pollard (267).

A Historic Start

16

Runs scored in the first over, the most ever for Super Kings in the first over of a T20 match.

Inspired by history?

38

Average opening stand for CSK in IPL 2014, by far the best for any team that season.