IPL 2015: Highest Run-Scorers and Best Bowlers After Chennai vs. Delhi
The Chennai Super Kings battled back from a poor batting displays to snatch an important victory over the Delhi Daredevils in their opening match of the competition.
JP Duminy put the Super Kings into bat after winning the toss and his bowlers did an excellent job of restricting Chennai’s power players. Nathan Coulter-Nile was the standout player, taking three wickets, while Dwayne Smith’s 34 was the best any Super Kings player could muster as they made 150 for seven.
The Daredevils got off to a terrible start and while they recovered thanks to a superb effort from Albie Morkel, they lost too many wickets at vital times in the match and eventually fell agonisingly short of their target.
Here’s how the match affects various individual classifications in the early days of the tournament and a closer examination of which players shone brightest on Day 2 of the IPL campaign.
Top 10 Run-Scorers
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| Player | Team | Runs |
| Rohit Sharma | Mumbai | 98 |
| Albie Morkel | Delhi | 73 |
| Gautam Gambhir | Kolkata | 57 |
| Corey Anderson | Mumbai | 55 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Kolkata | 46 |
| Manish Pandey | Kolkata | 40 |
| Dwayne Smith | Chennai | 34 |
| Faf du Plessis | Chennai | 32 |
| MS Dhoni | Chennai | 30 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Chennai | 17 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Batting Averages
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| Player | Team | Average |
| Gautam Gambhir | Kolkata | 57.00 |
| Manish Pandey | Kolkata | 40.00 |
| Dwayne Smith | Chennai | 34.00 |
| Faf du Plessis | Chennai | 32.00 |
| MS Dhoni | Chennai | 30.00 |
| Kedar Jadhav | Delhi | 20.00 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Chennai | 17.00 |
| Robin Uthappa | Kolkata | 9.00 |
| Yuvraj Singh | Delhi | 9.00 |
| Aditya Tare | Mumbai | 7.00 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Strike Rates
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| Player | Team | Runs | SR |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Kolkata | 46 | 230.00 |
| Brendon McCullum | Chennai | 4 | 200.00 |
| Mohit Sharma | Chennai | 2 | 200.00 |
| Manish Pandey | Kolkata | 40 | 166.66 |
| Rohit Sharma | Mumbai | 98 | 150.76 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | Chennai | 12 | 150.00 |
| Yuvraj Singh | Delhi | 9 | 150.00 |
| Corey Anderson | Mumbai | 55 | 134.14 |
| Faf du Plessis | Chennai | 32 | 133.33 |
| Albie Morkel | Delhi | 73 | 132.72 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
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Top 10 Wicket-Takers
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Player | Team | Wickets |
| Ashish Nehra | Chennai | 3 |
| Nathan Coulter-Nile | Delhi | 3 |
| Morne Morkel | Kolkata | 2 |
| Dwayne Bravo | Chennai | 2 |
| Corey Anderson | Mumbai | 1 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Mumbai | 1 |
| Harbhajan Singh | Mumbai | 1 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | Kolkata | 1 |
| JP Duminy | Delhi | 1 |
| Dominic Joseph | Delhi | 1 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Bowling Figures
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| Player | Team | Runs | Wickets |
| Ashish Nehra | Chennai | 25 | 3 |
| Nathan Coulter-Nile | Delhi | 30 | 3 |
| Morne Morkel | Kolkata | 18 | 2 |
| Dwayne Bravo | Chennai | 36 | 2 |
| JP Duminy | Delhi | 15 | 1 |
| Dominic Joseph | Delhi | 18 | 1 |
| Corey Anderson | Mumbai | 21 | 1 |
| Amit Mishra | Delhi | 21 | 1 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | Chennai | 25 | 1 |
| Imran Tahir | Delhi | 27 | 1 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Economy Rates
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Player | Team | Runs | Wickets | Econ |
| Morne Morkel | Kolkata | 18 | 2 | 4.50 |
| Amit Mishra | Delhi | 21 | 1 | 5.25 |
| Vinay Kumar | Mumbai | 21 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Dominic Joseph | Delhi | 18 | 1 | 6.00 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | Chennai | 25 | 1 | 6.25 |
| Ashish Nehra | Chennai | 25 | 3 | 6.25 |
| Imran Tahir | Delhi | 27 | 1 | 6.75 |
| Lasith Malinga | Mumbai | 27 | 0 | 6.75 |
| Sunil Narine | Kolkata | 28 | 0 | 7.00 |
| Andre Russell | Kolkata | 21 | 0 | 7.00 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Standout Performers
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Bowlers Shine in Chennai Victory
After winning the toss, it was a bold move from JP Duminy to put this exceptional Super Kings side into bat. But he vindicated in his decision, as his bowling attack put on a masterclass of how to restrict a quality opponent in this format.
They were on point from the off to take the early key wickets of Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina, before bowling with a refined control throughout the middle and latter overs. There were a couple of standout men with the ball, though.
Nathan Coulter-Nile took three wickets for 30 in his four overs, including those of the aforementioned dangerous duo. When he was brought back on for the latter stages of the innings he also took the vital wicket of MS Dhoni, keeping his cool under pressure despite being whacked for consecutive sixes in the two previous balls.
ByTheMin cricket paid tribute to his efforts, as well as a few others:
"Good bowling for Delhi, especially from Coulter-Nile, Mishra and the accursed Tahir. We'll be back for the second knock in a bit!
— ByTheMin Cricket (@ByTheMinCricket) April 9, 2015"
Indeed, Amit Mishra was also very tight in his work, bamboozling the dangerous Ravindra Jadeja and having him stumped. His figures of one for 21 from his four overs were a measure of his excellent control in the face of a host of dangerous batsmen.
The same has to be said for the Chennai bowling attack, however. Ashish Nehra removed both openers early on with some really intelligent play, while the spin of Ravichandran Ashwin was vital in slowing down the run-rate of the Delhi batters during the middle overs of the match.
With the bat the standout player was Delhi's Albie Morkel. He came to the crease with his team in big trouble, played some excellent shots and never looked flustered as wickets continued to fall around him. Ultimately in proved to be in vain, but Morkel can take great pride in his effort here.
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