Devon Conway's blazing blade and Moeen Ali's effective off-breaks beautifully complemented each other as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) outclassed Delhi Capitals (DC) in every department of the game, winning their IPL match by a comprehensive 91-run margin.
Put in to bat, Conway completed a hat-trick of half-centuries with a superb 87 off 49 balls to set up a winning score of 208/6 in 20 overs. The scoreboard pressure was always mounting on Capitals as they finally managed 117 in 17.4 overs with Moeen (3/13 in 4 overs) taking wickets of Mitchell Marsh (25 off 20 balls) and skipper Rishabh Pant (21 off 11 balls) in quick succession to finish the contest.
CSK might have had a "perfect game" against DC but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni doesn't want to lose his sleep over play-off qualifications as he feels that even if they fail in that pursuit, it won't be "end of the world".
CSK will now need to win three games and depend on other results to make it as fourth place entrants in the play-offs.
"If we make the playoffs, great. But even if we don't it's not the end of the world," a pragmatic Dhoni said after completing a 'Capitals Demolition'.
"I am not a big fan of maths. Even in school, I wasn't good at it. Thinking of the net run-rate doesn't help. You just want to enjoy the IPL. When two other teams are playing, you don't want to be under pressure and thinking. You just have to think about what to do in the next game," he said.
However, he did admit that the cricket they are playing now could have been played a few game earlier.
DC remain on fifth position with 10 points and will now need to win all three remaining games and also expect a few other results to favour them if they harbour any hopes of qualification.
"It would have been better if we would have had a win like this somewhere early. It was a perfect game," Dhoni added.
"The batters did really well. It was a toss where we wanted to win and field first, but in the heart, I was fine to lose the toss. The ball stops and comes, and it behaves only after 13-14 overs. Everybody contributed a bit. Runs on the board really help, and it was important to restrict their big-hitters. Both Simarjeet and Mukesh have taken time to mature. They have the capability, the more they play, the better they'll get at game sense. It is ultimately about reading which is a good delivery to bowl and which is a delivery to not bowl. In T20 cricket, it is all about knowing which delivery not to bowl. I don't like going in and hitting straightaway. But with only 12 deliveries left, if a few of us contribute with scores of 8 off 2, it helps. But scoring just 2 or 3 runs doesn't help," Dhoni signed off.
