Agency :
Pacer Ashish Nehra snapped up three wickets to lead a disciplined bowling attack as two-time champions Chennai Super Kings defeated Delhi Daredevils by one run in a last-over thriller of the IPL 8 on Thursday.
Needing 19 runs off the last over, Albie Morkel blasted two fours and a six off Dwayne Bravo but Delhi still fell short by one run at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Earlier put into bat, Chennai were caught in a spin web and could only manage a modest 150 for 7, courtesy contributions by Dwayne Smith (34), middle-order batsman Faf du Plessis (32) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30).
Defending the total, Ashish Nehra produced a fiery spell of fast bowling, dismissing Chidhambaram Gautam (4), Mayank Agarwal (15) and Shreyas Iyer (7) early on to put Delhi on the backfoot.
Albie Morkel anchored the runchase with a 55-ball 73 but he didn’t get the much-needed support at the other end as Chennai eventually restricted them to 149 in their stipulated 20 overs to launch their IPL-8 campaign on a positive note.
Chasing 151, Delhi were left tottering at 39 for three in five overs, thanks to a fiery spell by Nehra, who scalped two wickets — Chidhambaram Gautam (4) and Mayank Agarwal (15) — within a space of four balls in the third over to reduce Delhi to 20 for two.
Pacer Ashish Nehra snapped up three wickets to lead a disciplined bowling attack as two-time champions Chennai Super Kings defeated Delhi Daredevils by one run in a last-over thriller of the IPL 8 on Thursday.
Needing 19 runs off the last over, Albie Morkel blasted two fours and a six off Dwayne Bravo but Delhi still fell short by one run at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Earlier put into bat, Chennai were caught in a spin web and could only manage a modest 150 for 7, courtesy contributions by Dwayne Smith (34), middle-order batsman Faf du Plessis (32) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30).
Defending the total, Ashish Nehra produced a fiery spell of fast bowling, dismissing Chidhambaram Gautam (4), Mayank Agarwal (15) and Shreyas Iyer (7) early on to put Delhi on the backfoot.
Albie Morkel anchored the runchase with a 55-ball 73 but he didn’t get the much-needed support at the other end as Chennai eventually restricted them to 149 in their stipulated 20 overs to launch their IPL-8 campaign on a positive note.
Chasing 151, Delhi were left tottering at 39 for three in five overs, thanks to a fiery spell by Nehra, who scalped two wickets — Chidhambaram Gautam (4) and Mayank Agarwal (15) — within a space of four balls in the third over to reduce Delhi to 20 for two.
