IPL 2020: It’s Important to Stick Together as a Team, Says DC Captain Shreyas Iyer

Delhi Capitals reached the top of the IPL points table after defeating Chennai Super Kings by 44 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first. Batting first, Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan came out to open for Delhi where Prithvi Shaw, batted brilliantly and smashed 64 off just 43 balls. He got well support from his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan (35 runs off 27) who played with more caution upfront but more than made for it once the field restriction was over.

Thanks to the good start, Delhi Capitals scored 175 runs losing 3 wickets in the prescribed 20 overs.

In reply, Chennai team could score 131 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs and lost the match by 44 runs.

Winning skipper Shreyas Iyer credited his openers, Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan, for the victory and also appreciated his fast bowlers – Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje.

Rabada, the Purple Cap holder with five wickets in the tournament so far, took three-wickets, while Nortje picked two.

“The way the openers started gave us a lot of confidence and the finish was good too. I am lucky to have KG and Nortje in the team. It’s important to stick together as a team and we need to enjoy each other’s success,” Iyer said at the post-match presentation.

The skipper further said that he is happy with the performance and revealed the game plan.

“In the team meeting we decided that we are going to assess the batting conditions early and then play accordingly,” he said.

Man of the match for his stormy half-century, Shaw said he corrected his earlier mistakes that led to his downfall and were determined to play more ground shots.

“In the start you have to see how the wicket is, playing along the ground is more important. I was striking the ball well last year as well, but I was making silly mistakes. This time I decided to play more ground shots,” he said.

Rabada, who took the wickets of Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja also appreciated Axar Patel and Amit Mishra for their perfect bowling skills in the middle overs.

While Axar removed the dangerous Shane Watson, Mishra bowled a tight spell of 4-0-23-0.

“I just try and hit the ball in good areas and try to execute my plans. Luckily, I got wickets but most importantly we won tonight. I try to adjust to what is happening and get the team in a winning position. The wickets are by-products,” Rabada said.

“Spinners bowled remarkably well throughout, it wasn’t too dewy and was gripping. Axar bowled really well and has been economical. Mishra is really a skilful bowler and they controlled the middle overs and that gave us the opportunity to strangle at the death,” he added.