KL Rahul scored a superb fifty as Delhi Capitals eased past Chennai Super Kings with a commanding 25-run win at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday. This was DC’s third victory on the trot in the ongoing tournament. The victory also saw DC beating CSK in Chennai for the first time since 2010. KL Rahul played the role of anchor as DC posted 183 for 6 in the stipulated 20 overs after opting to bat first. Rahul scored 77 runs off 51 balls with the help of 3 sixes and 6 fours. In the chase, CSK were off to a slow start and kept lagging behind. They ended up at 158 for 5, despite MS Dhoni staying unbeaten at the crease on 30 off 26 balls.

Dhoni came in to bat at number 7 spot. CSK lost Ravindra Jadeja in the 11th over when Dhoni arrived at the crease. At that point, CSK needed 110 runs off 56 balls. They, however, ended up losing the match by a big margin as the duo of Dhoni and Vijay Shankar added 84 runs off 57 balls for the sixth wicket.

Check out some of the reactions here –

CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad on Saturday expressed his concerns with the side’s struggles in the powerplay and said they are “over concerned or tentative” about how they fare in the first six overs with both bat and ball.

CSK suffered their third defeat in four outings in this edition of the IPL.

“Not today, since the last three games, it’s not really going our way. We’re trying our level best in all three departments,” Gaikwad said at the post-match presentation.

“I think powerplay is definitely a concern for us – in batting and bowling department. We’ve spotted that since the second game.

“We’re trying but it’s just not happening. I just think that we are over concerned or tentative about who’s coming on to bowl in the powerplay… we’re losing a wicket in the first or second over. We’re just over concerned about things in the powerplay.” CSK managed just 46 runs for the loss of three wickets in the powerplay on Saturday, having struggled to get going in their previous outings also.

“Everyone needs to come together. We need to make those things happen. Since the powerplay, we were always playing a catch-up game. We had Ash at No. 8, and we didn’t have Overton.

“The plan was to take it as deep as possible. DC bowled really well. Even when Shivam was batting, we were looking for momentum but we just couldn’t get it.” Set a tricky target of 184 on a pitch where batting was not the easiest thing to do, CSK were restricted to 158 for five in 20 overs.

(With PTI Inputs)