chennai superkings batting
delhi daredevils batting

A splendid 4-24 from left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati led Chennai Super Kings to an 18-run win over Delhi Daredevils to keep them alive for a semi-final spot in the IPL on Saturday.The 28-year-old Jakati was the unlikely star of the night as he turned the match on its head in favour of the Chennai side with a fine display of slow bowling at the Wanderers.Chasing a target of 164, Delhi could score only 145 in 20 overs after stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir inserted Chennai in after winning the toss on a batting pitch which was hosting the first match of the tournament.Jakati claimed Delhi's twin half centurions David Warner (51) and Dinesh Karthik (52), besides the in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan (13) to help the Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side to their third win in seven matches.With the win, Chennai are on joint third with seven points along with Mumbai Indians (six matches) and Rajasthan Royals (seven matches) behind Deccan Chargers and Daredevils, both on eight points.Till the 15th over, Delhi were on course at 120 for three mainly due to Warner and Karthik but they could add just 25 runs in the last five overs while losing three quick wickets.Delhi lost way once they lost Warner got out in the 16th over and Karthik fell in the 18th over.When Karthik was out at 132 for six, the match was all over and the Delhi lower order could not do much to the incisive bowling and good fielding from Chennai.For Delhi, Warner top-scored with a 40-ball 54, his IPL fifty on debut and he was ably supported by Karthik.Needing to score just over eight an over, Delhi started disastrously losing two wickets for 20 in the fourth over with both opener Gambhir and AB de Villiers falling to left-arm seamer Sudeep Tyagi.They were 71 for three by half-way and were well on course at 120 for three after the 15th over before losing their way in the last five overs.Suresh Raina took a blinder by diving full length to his right in the fourth over to pile on the agony of opener Gambhir (13) who continued his poor run of form in the tournament.Next ball, in-form and only centurion this season, AB de Villiers departed for a golden duck as Tyagi bowled him with a ball that jagged back in.All was not lost for Delhi with Warner and Dilshan going great guns. Warner showed why he is considered a dreaded Twenty20 batsman as he hit three fours in three balls off Albie Morkel in the fifth over.In-form Dilshan (13) hit a huge six off Tyagi in the first ball of the sixth over but that did not intimidate Jakati who dismissed the Sri Lankan with a peach of a delivery which turned from leg to knock back the middle stump.At 72 for three at the half-way mark, Delhi were on course at an asking rate of just over nine.Karthik and Warner raised the hundred in the 13th over and the former hit spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan for two fours in the 14th over even picking a doosra.But then, wickets fell in quick succession with Warner (16th), Manhas (17th), Karthik (18th) and Pradeep Sangwan (18th) making a procession to the hut.Ashish Nehra and Amit Mishra needed an impossible 29 runs from the last over and they could score only 10 to fall short by 18 runs.Earlier, left-arm pacers Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes took three wickets each as Delhi Daredevils bowled out Chennai Super Kings for 163.Nehra and Nannes returned with identical figures of 3-27 while medium pacer Rajat Bhatia chipped in with 2-17 in his first game this season.The Super Kings scored at a brisk pace initially and were well on course for a much bigger total as they were 134 for four after the 15th over. But, Dhoni's side could add only 29 runs from the last five overs while losing six wickets.Jacob Oram (3), Dhoni (6), Sudeep Tyagi (13), Laxmipathy Balaji (2) and Muttiah Muralitharan (3) did little for the team's cause.Nannes took two wickets - that of Oram and Dhoni - off successive balls in the 18th over to strike body blow to the Chennai's hopes of a competitive total.The Chennai side began on a strong note but lost two quick wickets - of openers Matthew Hayden (30) and Murali Vijay (14) - to be reduced to 53 for in the sixth over.Vijay could not contribute much in his IPL debut and was out in fifth over off Nehra.Hayden followed his partner to the hut in the next over after living dangerously while also hitting some lusty blows. He could not beat de Villiers at long on in the sixth over after scoring a 19-ball 30 which included four fours and one six.Chennai shifted gears after being 77 for three at the half-way mark and added 57 runs in the next five overs though also losing the wicket of Suresh Raina for 32.S Badrinath hit two sixes and two fours from the 11th and 12th overs before Bhatia broke the dangerous looking third wicket stand of 66 from 41 balls by removing Raina caught by Dilshan at the mid-wicket boundary.Raina faced 21 balls from which he hit two fours and an equal number of sixes.Badrinath, who was looking good for his fifty, gifted his wicket by playing across the line only to see his timbers knocked down by a Bhatia yorker for a 34-ball 45 which had four fours and two sixes.