Conway, Ali lift CSK to phenomenal win over DC

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the fifty-fifth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Devon Conway was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Implosion

Despite the dismissal of Kona Srikar Bharat, who was replacing Prithvi Shaw as opener, as he tumbled to the slip cordon while attempting to draw Simarjeet Singh, the Capitals' chase seemed promising early on. David Warner was subsequently out leg before wicket (lbw) to Maheesh Theekshana, despite the fact that he thought he had some bat on the way to the pad, but Mitchell Marsh and Rishabh Pant looked to rebuild. The seven fours and the lone six between the two put the Capitals in the hunt for the net run rate as they pushed into the seventies by the eighth over.

Then followed the crash. Marsh was enticed to slog a wide-ish ball by Moeen Ali, but he was caught on 25. The offspinner returned the next over to dismiss Pant with a chop-on, and Ripal Patel was shortly picked up. It was still conceivable to recover from 81 for 5, but a double-wicket over from the opposite end in the next over ensured the result. In the 11th over, Mukesh Choudhary dismissed Axar Patel and Rovman Powell in the space of five balls, and the Capitals' objective was to finish respectably at 85 for 7, supported in part by Shardul Thakur's 24. Bravo took wickets nine and 10 off back-to-back deliveries in the 18th over to restrict them to 117.

Ali's outing

Ali remarked after the game that his primary task as an offspinner is to spin the ball, which he did on Sunday's used wicket. Ali was aided by the fact that he took Marsh's wicket three balls into his spell and used that momentum to keep the hitters at bay. Pant's dismissal onto his stumps was a stroke of luck for Moeen, but he earned Ripal Patel's wicket by ensuring he did not go full after being struck for a six. Instead, his flatter, longer pitch forced the hitter to attempt a large leg-side swipe despite the fact that the ball was not in his arc.

As his third over came after the two Choudhary wickets, Ali benefited from the pressure being applied by the bowler at the other end. That allowed him to eke out five dots against Kuldeep Yadav, who was still getting his bearings in the crease, and conclude his period with 16 dot balls and a 3 for 13 record.