This Sunday offered us two matches with big winning margins. DC would have loved to win but CSK, as MS said, had the perfect game. The weekend has helped get a clearer picture of where this tournament is heading and that trend should continue in the next seven days. The action continues here on ESPNcricinfo, so come on and enjoy the content. For now, it's goodbye from me, Ekanth, on behalf of my fellow commentator, Sidharth Monga, and our scorers, M Venkat Raghav and Ranjith P.

Munafahmed: "4 bowlers today took 2 wickets in 2 balls. What a day."

Devon Conway, POTM for his 87 (49): The focus is to keep it simple, communicate with Ruturaj and execute our plans. Knowing what their bowlers are like and learning about the pitch was the topic of discussion with Michael Hussey. I was happy to build a partnership with Rutu, the way he is playing eases my job. Being an all-format player is my brand, being positive up-front and assessing the situation is my focus thereon. I got out to the sweep, MS told me that I will get full balls and to go down the track and hit the ball straight.

MS Dhoni, CSK Captain: The big-margin win helps, would have been better if it had come earlier. But this was a perfect game. The batters did well. I wanted to win the toss and field first but this was a game where you'd want to lose the toss. The ball stops and comes and behaves only after 13-14 overs. The way the openers batted, runs on the board helped. And we had to make sure the opposition's big hitters did not get going. Simarjeet and Mukesh have taken time to mature, each player takes his own time. Game sense is crucial, finding out what to and what not to bowl. The latter is more important in T20s. The first ball is to see what was happening. When you go in the 13th-14th over, you can tap for one. But with 12 balls to go, you have to go big from ball one. We haven't done well to go , getting 4 off 2 is not good. We will look to take one game at a time. I am not good at maths, not even at school. Enjoying the game in hand is the best. See the combinations that work and plan for the next year if qualification is possible is the key.

Alex Frank : "Who would have thought only 5 teams will have positive NRR and CSK would be one of them!!!"

Vasisht: "Had we won one of the three games (RCB, GT, LSG) where we lost from a winning position, we would have been at no.6 with a real shot at qualifying. "

Hari: "Whenever I see Bravo's slow Yorker, I get reminded of his delivery Yuvi in a bilateral series against Ind. Requiring 10 runs to win, Yuvi hits him for 2 fours and gets out to this delivery off the next ball. If you could find me that match it ll make me happy @Ekanth :)" Here it is! :D

DC's innings started okay but Warner's wicket was huge. Marsh and Pant tried to continue with the aggressive shots but once they went, the clusters of wickets prolonged. It was a slow but sure end with a big win for CSK. It takes the NRR to the numerical positive side of the Points Table. They've overtaken KKR as well.

Rishabh Pant, DC Captain: They outplayed us in all the departments. I felt this was coming, the only thing we look forward is the next three games. If we win them, we should qualify. There are flus and Covid cases, a lot going on but we are not using that as excuses. The only thing we can do is be more positive and proactive, we need to be in a good frame of mind and make good decisions.

Moeen Ali, 4-0-13-3: It's great for us, the confidence going forward is up because of the win. Ours was a good score, at one point we thought of 215 but we got over 200 with which we were happy. We got a bit less, but we stayed in the game with runs on the board. My primary aim is to spin the ball and the wickets are assisting me. We have an amazing fanbase, I didn't realize how big the franchise is but am thrilled to see it.

11:11 pm The DC team is applauding the CSK team as they make their way back to maintain distance as a safety precaution.

17.4
W
Bravo to Ahmed, OUT, Slower yorker dips like a nacho and hits the stumps. Bravo runs around in celebration, it was low, Khaleel's bat went down from up, he stood still while he did it, the ball went underneath the bat and made its way to the stumps

KK Ahmed b Bravo 0 (2m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Khalil comes in with a ginger walk.

17.3
W
Bravo to Thakur, OUT, Strangled down leg! It was a length ball pitching down leg, Thakur tried to nudge it fine. It took the edge and went low to MS' left and he took it. Bravo and Thakur have a friendly chat with smiles.

SN Thakur c †Dhoni b Bravo 24 (31m 19b 2x4 1x6) SR: 126.31

Around the wicket

17.2
4
Bravo to Thakur, FOUR, A harder slap this time to similar length ball, a bit slower and Thakur kept it in the air and cleared cover in the ring
17.1
4
Bravo to Thakur, FOUR, Length ball outside off is creamed nonchalantly and it is in the gap and beats deep-point to his left. He went on a knee and eased it through with a horizontal bat

END OF OVER:
17 | 7 Runs | DC: 109/8 (100 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.41, RRR: 33.33)

  • Anrich Nortje1 (6b)
  • Shardul Thakur16 (16b)
  • Maheesh Theekshana4-0-29-1
  • Simarjeet Singh4-0-27-2

Mustafa: "@Gajendra - For the very same purpose, we have NRR."

krishneup: "NRR is more accurate measurement than bonus win point."

16.6
0
Theekshana to Nortje, no run, Defends a length ball on off to cover
16.5
0
Theekshana to Nortje, no run, Inside edges a good length ball on middle by using a full-faced bat. He was squared up and back in his crease but the bat angle helped
16.4
0
Theekshana to Nortje, no run, Goes back and drives a length ball outside off to cover
16.3
1
Theekshana to Thakur, 1 run, Full outside off, pushed to long-off and he takes the run this time

DC 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st16DA WarnerKS Bharat
2nd20DA WarnerMR Marsh
3rd36MR MarshRR Pant
4th3R PowellRR Pant
5th6R PowellRV Patel
6th1AR PatelR Powell
7th3SN ThakurR Powell
8th14SN ThakurKuldeep Yadav
9th18SN ThakurA Nortje
10th0A NortjeKK Ahmed

Indian Premier League

TeamMWLPTNRR
GT14104200.316
RR1495180.298
LSG1495180.251
RCB148616-0.253
DC1477140.204
PBKS1477140.126
KKR1468120.146
SRH146812-0.379
CSK144108-0.203
MI144108-0.506