IPL 2018: Despite Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar's heroics, DD fail to produce complete performance against CSK

Delhi Daredevils (DD) have done it again. Not only did they end up losing another game in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), they now face a situation where they have to win all their remaining games of the tournament — six to be precise.

With DD just one step away from bidding goodbye to their chances of making it to the playoffs, there will be a lot of talking points on where the side, that went through a period of turmoil in the last two weeks, went wrong yet again. However, not all was lost for the Daredevils as far as Monday’s fixture against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was concerned.

This wasn’t one of DD’s meek surrenders; instead, it was the young fighters in their ranks who rose to the occasion once again, and took the game to fourth delivery of the final over.

Battling against a resurgent CSK — on which the two-year suspension seems to have had little effect — wasn’t going to be an easy prospect to start with, given that Dhoni’s side find themselves on top right now and are most likley to reach the business end of the tournament.

Delhi needed all their departments to fire to keep themselves afloat, more so after they punched above their weight and thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 55 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla. That win not only restored some of the pride in the DD camp, but also gave team’s fans immense hope of new skipper Shreyas Iyer.

Instead, their latest defeat started off with a lost review in the very first over after putting Chennai to bat. Call it bad luck if you want, but what initially looked like a close lbw call against Shane Watson, turned out to be a visible inside-edge. That would, however, be as close Delhi would get to a wicket for the next 10 overs, as Watson minced the opposition bowlers to record a blazing half-century, with opener Faf du Plessis providing him ideal support at the other end.

All-rounder Vijay Shankar, as well as spinners Amit Mishra and Glenn Maxwell gave the side some hope of restricting their opponents to a sub-180 score, with CSK’s top three departing within a space of a couple of overs to halt their run-flow temporarily. However, there was no stopping the in-form duo of MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu thereafter, with the pair turning the tide back in their favour.

Liam Plunkett, who had got off to a great start with the ball against Kings XI Punjab in what was his first game of the tournament, was the worst hit as he conceded 52 off three overs. A target of 212 was raised, and Delhi were left to produce the kind of magic they did against KKR in order to overhaul the challenging score.

Magic they did produce, although it was not from the bats of Prithvi Shaw or skipper Iyer, both of whom were sent back early. While Shaw did show shades of the form that had him branded as ‘boy wonder’ in the two boundaries that he hit, Kerala pacer KM Asif got rid of him early by dragging his length back, with some smart field placement coming in handy for the men in yellow.

Munro looked dangerous with a strike rate of about 200, but didn’t last long as he became Asif’s second victim. Confusion between Iyer and Rishabh Pant resulted in the two standing side-by-side at the non-striker’s crease, while Glenn Maxwell got his defence beaten completely by Ravindra Jadeja to get bowled for 6. At 74/4, it seemed as if the match would end earlier than usual.

Pant, however, had no plans of giving up, and he continued to hit the Chennai bowlers out of the park with brute force. The Delhi batsman, who had a wonder run in the 2016 U-19 World Cup as well as Ranji Trophy that followed later that year, tonked the ball around the park at will, bringing up his half-century off just 34 balls. The wicket-keeper-batsman was middling nearly everything on the occasion, including a delivery pitched well outside off by Harbhajan Singh that was swept over long on for a six.

His clean-hitting would’ve inspired Shankar at the other end, and after Pant was dismissed with Delhi needing another 50 runs to win, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder got into the act and gave the gloomy DD camp a sliver of hope. Shankar’s strike-rate had come under the scanner during the Nidahas Trophy final in March, when he couldn’t accelerate at a time when India needed big overs to stay in the chase, and were ultimately saved by Dinesh Karthik.

With his unbeaten 54 off 31 balls, Shankar sent out a clear message to the Indian selectors of his batting prowess in the shortest format of the game, and deserves as much credit for guiding Delhi to within touching distance of the humungous target as Pant. However, there is only so much that two middle-order batsmen can do in a tough chase like this following a top-order collapse.

The Daredevils have now had performances to cherish from nearly every department of the team, as well as from most individuals, with Pant and Shankar being the latest examples in this case. However, the fact that they haven’t clicked together is what might have resulted in six defeats out of the eight games so far.

With their hopes of making it to the playoffs for the first time since 2012 fading away fast, the team will now need a miracle to make it through. Perhaps the personnel can draw some inspiration from their captain, who refuses to give up mentally, as was evident in his post-match interview when he said, “We are really effective in home games, and if we can keep the team stable, that should serve us well.”