IPL Results 2018: Scores, Points Table, Live-Stream Info for Latest T20 Fixtures
April 30, 2018
Chennai Super Kings hit the top of the 2018 Indian Premier League standings as they downed Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Monday.
As is so often the case, CSK skipper MS Dhoni produced a fine finish to see his side to a huge total of 211 for four.
Delhi went closer than they should have in reply as a combination of poor bowling and fine batting saw them score heavily late on, but they never looked like pulling off a remarkable win.
The star man of the day was Shane Watson, who set Chennai up for their monstrous score by hitting 78 off 40 balls at the top of the order.
2018 IPL Table (Team, Played, Points, Net Run Rate)
1. Chennai Super Kings, 8, 112, +0.553
2. Sunrisers Hyderabad, 8, 12, +0.514
3. Kings XI Punjab, 7, 10 +0.228
4. Kolkata Knight Riders, 8, 8, +0.110
5. Rajasthan Royals, 7, 6, -0.751
6. Mumbai Indians, 7, 4, +0.033
7. Royal Challengers Bangalore, 7, 4, -0.447
8. Delhi Daredevils, 8, 4, -0.509
Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday, May 1, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Mumbai Indians, 3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. IST
Wednesday, May 2, Delhi Daredevils vs. Rajasthan Royals, 3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. IST
Thursday, May, 3, Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Chennai Super Kings, 3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. IST
Visit the competition's website for the full schedule.
Bottom-of-the-table Delhi were on the back foot from the off in Pune.
They won the toss and elected to field first, but the lack of an early wicket ended up being crucial.
In the 11th over, Vijay Shankar finally dismissed Faf du Plessis for 33 from 33 balls, but CSK had already made it to 102 thanks to Watson's fireworks.
The Australian hit seven sixes and four fours in his blistering innings before eventually being caught by Liam Plunkett off the bowling of Amit Mishra in the 14th over.
The problem for Delhi was that even though they managed to get Suresh Raina out cheaply, they were still left with Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu to contend with in the final overs.
The former Indian captain scored 51 from 22 balls to push his side well over the 200 mark and set Delhi a very daunting target, per Cricbuzz:
The initial response from the Daredevils was inevitable.
With the pressure of CSK's total on their shoulders, they had to go big early, and that duly led to Prithvi Shaw, Colin Munro, Shreyas Iyer and Glenn Maxwell falling relatively cheaply.
Rishabh Pant and Shankar came together in the ninth over and did just about as well as anyone could have done to make a game of things, but it was too late.
Pant blasted 79 from 45 balls before holing out in the 18th over. The huge hitting was continued by Shankar, who smashed Dwayne Bravo for three sixes in the penultimate over to leave Delhi needing 28 off the last for the win.
But it was too little, too late as Delhi fell to another defeat.