A last-ball finish left the Delhi Daredevils heart-broken

A crucial knock by the middle order made it easy

Chennai Super Kings struck 15 runs in the last over to score a thrilling four-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament here Thursday.

Chasing 188 runs, the Super Kings won the crucial match, losing six wickets in the bargain on a steamy afternoon at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium. Eventually, it was left to their fast bowler Manpreet Gony to hit a six and a four in the last over bowled by Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik.

The architects of this victory were their openers, Stephen Fleming (44) and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (40) who laid the foundation with a solid 62 runs opening stand.Later, captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni (33) and Albie Morkel (30) paved the way for the victory.

Earlier, after the Chennai Super Kings won the toss and put the Delhi Daredevils into batting a brilliant 121-run third wicket partnership by opener Gautam Gambhir and Sikhar Dhawan helped Delhi Daredevils to score 187 for five in the allotted 20 overs.

Gambhir’s 80 off 49 balls (11x4, 1x6) and Dhawan’s 59 off 46 balls (6x4, 2x6) formed the foundation on which the home team backed itself. The furious run-gathering by Gambhir and Dhawan took the contest a notch higher. However, it proved inadequate against an inspired opposition.

The Scores:

Delhi Daerdevils: G. Gambhir c Kapugedera b Balaji 80, V. Sehwag b Gony 23, A.B de Villiers b Morkel 0, S. Dhawan c Kapugedera b Morkel 59, S. Malik c Raina b Balaji 2, M. Karthik (not out) 6, M. Tiwari (not out) 5; Extras (lb-6, nb-2, w-4): 12. Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 187.

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-46, 3-167, 4-175, 5-176.

Chennai Super Kings bowling: Gony 4-0-36-1, Morkel 4-0-35-2, Muralitharan 4-0-25-0, Amarnath 3-0-35-0, Balaji 4-0-35-2, Kapugedera 1-0-15-0.

Chennai Super Kings: S. Vidyut c Dhawan b Sangwan 40, S. Fleming c de Villiers b Asif 44, M.S. Dhoni c de Villiers b Yomahesh 33, S. Raina c Tiwari b Sangwan 1, A. Morkel (run out) 30, C.K. Kapugedera c Dhawan b Yomahesh 8, S. Badrinath (not out) 8, M.S. Gony (not out) 13; Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-6): 11. Total (for six wkts in 20 overs): 188.

Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-97, 3-98, 4-138, 5-166, 6-166.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: McGrath 4-0-23-0, Asif 4-0-33-1, Yomahesh 4-0-40-2, Sangwan 4-0-29-2, Malik 2-0-28-0, Sehwag 2-0-30-0.