IPL 2021, CSK vs DC Highlights: Shaw, Dhawan fifties help DC make short work of CSK’s total

Rishabh Pant hits it towards deep midwicket and finishes with a boundary. Pant turns out to be the better captain in this encounter against MS Dhoni's side. DC beat CSK with 8 balls to spare. The early finish will help them in the long run when net run rate comes into play. DC 190/3 after 18.4 overs

Shardul Thakur bowls the penultimate over of the innings. Stoinis flicks the ball off his pads for a boundary. He follows it up with a loopy full toss. Stoinis starts to finish in style but finds the man in the deep. DC 186/3 after 18.3 overs

Dwayne Bravo's last over turns out to be his most expensive over. It is all but over for CSK now. Marcus Stoinis hammers the ball past long off for a boundary to finish the over, 10 runs from it. DC 182/2 after 18 overs

Marcus Stoinis promoted ahead of Ajinkya Rahane. Stoinis gets a boundary off the second ball he faces. Shardul Thakur errs and bowls a wide delivery. DC need just 17 runs from 18 deliveries now. DC 172/2 after 17 overs

Shardul Thakur brought back into the attack once again. He has been expensive tonight. Shikhar Dhawan has turned out to be too good for Thakur. He is playing proper cricket shots and unorthodox shots to disrupt his line and length. Thakur finally manages to get the better of Dhawan. A fuller delivery deceives the opener. He departs for 85 but the required run rate is just above 6 now. DC 167/2 after 16.3 overs

Dwayne Bravo has been the pick of the bowlers for CSK tonight. Shikhar Dhawan gets a boundary but still seven runs from the over. Meanwhile, Dhawan has surpassed Virat Kohli to score the most runs against CSK. Delhi still need 31 runs from 24 balls. Who will MS Dhoni trust to bowl the final four overs? DC 158/1 after 16 overs

Shikhar Dhawan gets across and gets a boundary off the first ball of Deepak Chahar's over. With that boundary, Dhawan becomes the first batsman to hit 600 fours in IPL. Chahar has been far from impressive tonight. Rishabh Pant gets off the mark with a boundary. 12 runs from Chahar's final over. DC 151/1 after 15 overs

Prithvi Shaw runs out of second chances as this time Moeen Ali completes an easy catch. Dwayne Bravo's slower wide delivery does the trick as Shaw could not get the timing on that one. The opener falls for 72. Rishabh Pant promotes himself up the order ahead of Ajinkya Rahane. Will this wicket help CSK make a comeback in this game? DC still need 50 off the last six overs. DC 139/1 after 14 overs

Moeen Ali brought back into the attack and he bowls a no ball that went over Shikhar Dhawan's head. Just a single off the free hit delivery. CSK need a batting collapse here if they want to win this match. But it seems like it won't happen. Shaw pulls and gets another maximum. Another boundary from the over and Shaw is in his 70s now. The required run rate is now well below 8 runs per over. DC 136/0 after 13 overs

Dwayne Bravo into the attack and Shikhar Dhawan gets a boundary off the second ball of the over. A lot will depend on how Bravo bowls if CSK are to make a comeback in this match. 8 runs from Bravo's first over. DC 121/0 after 12 overs

This is a nightmare for CSK fans. Shikhar Dhawan gets to his half-century from 35 balls. Shardul Thakur has been unimpressive so far. This duo is playing fearlessly making this run chase look like a cakewalk. 14 runs from the over. 

Now, Shikhar Dhawan hits Moeen Ali for a maximum. CSK need a wicket and they need it now. Prithvi Shaw goes big too but gets another lifeline as Ruturaj Gaikwad drops one in the deep. Nothing going the CSK way for now. Shaw gets to his 7th IPL fifty with a boundary off 27 deliveries. DC 99/0 after 10 overs

Prithvi Shaw finds a way. CSK were trying to get through the overs with spinners and minimum damage but Shaw takes on Jadeja and hits him for a six over long on. The youngster is nearing his 7th IPL fifty. DC 86/0 after 9 overs

DROPPED! Prithvi Shaw gets a lifeline as substitute fielder Mitchell Santner gets confused running in from long on and drops the catch. Moeen Ali does well as DC manage to get just five singles from it. Two good overs from the spinners here. DC 75/0 after 8 overs

Just what the doctor ordered for CSK after the strategic timeout. Ravindra Jadeja bowls an over with just five singles from it. DC would not mind that for now as they want the partnership to continue. They are still scoring at 10 runs per over. DC 70/0 after 7 overs

Not too much damage done in the final over of the powerplay overs. 7 runs from Deepak Chahar's third over. Meanwhile, Prithvi Shaw is currently batting at a strike rate of 200. At this point, DC look favourites to win the game. It will be upto how spinners operate in the middle overs. DC 65/0 after 6 overs

Shikhar Dhawan is toying with the field. Shardul Thakur gets hit for a boundary off the second ball of the over. On the other hand, Prithvi Shaw is timing the ball perfectly, carrying on his Vijay Hazare Trophy form. Three consecutive boundaries for Shaw. The two DC openers are making the full use of these powerplay overs. DC 58/0 after 5 overs

Shikhar Dhawan looks in excellent touch tonight. Dhawan is not overhitting the ball and it showed in the boundary off his pads and a loft over Sam Curran's head. Prithvi Shaw joins the party as well and hits him through the covers for a boundary. 17 runs from the over. DC 41/0 after 4 overs

Prithvi Shaw hits Deepak Chahar for the first six of the innings. Shaw has had a positive approach against his nemesis tonight. The slips are out now and every fielder on the offside is on the edge of the 30-yard circle. 8 runs from Chahar's second over. DC 24/0 after 3 overs

Sam Curran has done his job with the bat and now he opens the bowling for CSK. Shikhar Dhawan hits a boundary straight past him after facing two dot deliveries. The last time Dhawan played against CSK, he scored his maiden IPL century. 7 runs from Curran's first over. DC 16/0 after 2 overs

Shaw crashes a boundary to square leg to get the chase underway. Dhawan then slices a four to backward point. 9 runs from the first over. It's an imposing chase, but DC are off to a flier.

DC 9/0 after 1

All set for the chase. Could DC's middle order slam-bang their way to another last-over thriller here? The pitch is slow, so making 189 is going to be quite a task. Prithvi Shaw faces the first ball as Deepak Chahar bowls. Shikhar Dhawan at the other end.

Chris Woakes was put under the pump in the final over by Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja. Woakes went for a boundary off the first ball against Sam Curran but does well on the rest of the five deliveries. Off the final ball of the over, he beats Sam's bat and hits the stumps. Nevertheless, the partnership between Curran and Jadeja help CSK post a total of 188/7 against DC.

Tom Curran gets under pressure in his final over. All of a sudden, Tom loses control of his line and length. Sam does not lose his shape, waits for Tom to make the mistake and hits two sixes and one four from the over. Tom undoes the hard work of the first three overs as he gives away 23 runs in his last over. This is the kind of momentum CSK needed going into the final over. CSK 178/6 after 19 overs

Avesh Khan bowls his fourth over. This means that Chris Woakes who bowled well with the new ball will bowl one over short. Rishabh Pant shows faith in Avesh after he got the wicket of MS Dhoni in the previous over. Just five singles from the 18th over. CSK 155/6 after 18 overs

Sam Curran comes to the crease and gets off the mark with a boundary. Sam has been in good form of late. Tom Curran bowls the 17th over of the innings. It is the clash of Curran brothers in the death overs. Sam gets an upper hand as he finishes with a boundary. 7 runs from the over. CSK 150/6 after 17 overs

Avesh Khan gets the better of MS Dhoni. The CSK batsman goes for a big shot but inside edges the ball to his stumps. Huge wicket for DC as Dhoni can do some real damage towards the end. Two wickets in the over already. CSK 137/6 after 15.3 overs

The last thing CSK wanted at this stage was a run out. Ravindra Jadeja can be blamed here as he went for the second run initially and then decided against it. Suresh Raina was halfway down the crease and no way he was going to make it back. Raina departs for 54. CSK 137/5 after 15.1 overs

Marcus Stoinis continues. This clearly means that Avesh Khan will not bowl his quota of four overs. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja comes to bat ahead of MS Dhoni and he gets off the mark with a boundary. Jadeja is just playing with the field as he gets a boundary with the deftest of touches you will see. It will be a surprise if Stoinis gets a third over as Chris Woakes, Tom Curran and Avesh Khan have their overs left. 12 runs from Stoinis' second over. CSK 136/4 after 15 overs

Tom Curran back into the attack. It is going to be fast bowling till the end now. Poor fielding from Avesh Khan as he tries to kick the ball into play but misses it completely. WICKET! Tom does the job for DC. Ambati Rayudu miscues and Shikhar Dhawan makes no mistake at long off. Rayudu departs for 23. Tom gets his first wicket for DC. CSK 123/4 after 13.5 overs

Bringing Marcus Stoinis into the attack seemed like an obvious move after the pounding Amit Mishra received in his third over. However, Stoinis erred as he bowls an above-waist height no ball that goes for a six. It is followed by a boundary. Raina finishes the over with a six and reaches his 39th IPL fifty off just 32 balls. What a comeback this is turning out to be. CSK are accelerating well here. A big score on cards. CSK 117/3 after 13 overs

It seems like Suresh Raina never left. This time he takes on Amit Mishra. Raina hits two big sixes in the over and gets closer to his first half-century of the season. It was surely Raina's brilliance CSK were missing in the previous season that they ended up at the bottom half of the table. 17 runs off Mishra's third over. This is a good platform for CSK now with plenty of batting to come. CSK 98/3 after 12 overs

Ambati Rayudu gets his first boundary as he sweeps R Ashwin for a six over deep square leg. The logic behind giving Ashwin the fourth over is not clear as he has been leaking runs left and right. DC also have the services of Marcus Stoinis as the sixth bowler if anyone is having a bad day. 10 runs from his last over. Ashwin ends with 47-run spell with the sole wicket of Moeen Ali. CSK 81/3 after 11 overs

Amit Mishra has been hard to hit so far. Delhi Capitals have their tails up. Prithvi Shaw saves a boundary with his athletic effort. Just five runs from Mishra's second over. CSK 71/3 after 10 overs

Despite taking a wicket, Ashwin may not get to complete his full quota of four overs. Suresh Raina hits him for a six. The big wicket of Moeen Ali came from the over but 18 runs from it. Ambati Rayudu comes in to bat. CSK 66/3 after 9 overs

Moeen Ali gets down the wicket and hits two consecutive sixes making us question the reason behind giving Ashwin the third over on the trot. But, Ali helps justify Pant's move by throwing his wicket away playing a reverse sweep. Shikhar Dhawan gets hold of the catch after the top edge almost got lost in the night sky. Good catch from Dhawan. Ashwin finally gets his man! Ali departs for 24-ball 36. CSK 60/3 after 8.3 overs

Amit Mishra is here. The two lefties find it hard to pick Mishra's line. The leg spinner slows it up, bowls a few googlies, not pitching in the batsmen's arc. Good first over for the veteran, five runs from it. However, Tom Curran is expected to bowl from other end. CSK 48/2 after 8 overs

Moeen Ali is a good player of spin and the R Ashwin tactic is just not working for DC. Once again, two consecutive boundaries off his bowling tonight. Ashwin attempts a Kedar Jadhav too in the over with round-arm low action but still leaks 10 runs. Maybe bringing Amit Mishra into the attack is a sensible option here. Maybe Pant is reluctant to introduce him with two left-handed batsmen in the middle. CSK 43/2 after 7 overs

DC debutant Tom Curran back into the attack. Good change of pace and not allowing batsmen to hit through the line. Just three singles from Tom's first over for DC. The Englishmen have been good with the ball so far in this match. Good start for DC as they have restricted CSK below 40 in the powerplay overs. CSK 33/2 after 6 overs

Ravichandran Ashwin into the attack. An expected move from Rishabh Pant as two left-handed batsmen are there in the middle. Suresh Raina teases the cover fielder Marcus Stoinis with a well-timed chip shot, gets a boundary. Raina lofts another one, this time dancing down the wicket. Not the ideal start for Ashwin, with 10 runs from his first over. CSK 30/2 after 5 overs

CSK have lost two wickets but the good thing is that the two in the middle are timing it well. Moeen Ali gets off the mark with a boundary and follows it up with another. A single to end the over, 9 runs from it. CSK 20/2 after 4 overs

Ruturaj Gaikwad pushes it defensively but gets beaten by the swing. He edges it to Shikhar Dhawan at first slip. Great start for Delhi Capitals considering they don't have their primary two fast bowlers. Chris Woakes has been excellent with the new ball so far. Suresh Raina and Moeen Ali in the middle now. CSK in trouble early in the innings. Meanwhile, Raina gets off the mark with a boundary. CSK 11/2 after 3 overs

Avesh Khan opens the bowling instead of Tom Curran. Khan starts off with a wide. Next ball, he beats Ruturaj Gaikwad with the one swinging in. He gets a single off the third delivery. Faf du Plessis on the strike and Khan beats him with the length. Du Plessis trapped in front of the stumps and departs for a three-ball duck. Good call not to take DRS there. CSK 7/1 after 1.4 overs

As expected, Chris Woakes opens the bowling. Woakes gets swing straightaway beating opener Ruturaj Gaikwad. The youngster gets the first boundary of the innings on the third ball of the over. He beats the cover-point fielder easily. Just five runs from the over. Faf du Plessis is yet to get off the mark. CSK 5/0 after 1 over

Leg spinner Amit Mishra is playing his 100th match for DC. Mishra will be crucial for the side in the middle overs especially if Suresh Raina gets going. Mishra has dismissed Raina four times in IPL. On the other hand, Ajinkya Rahane is making his 150th IPL appearance. Rahane also needs 67 runs to complete his 4,000 IPL runs. 

Both the teams have a deep batting lineup. Delhi have batting till no. 9 whereas CSK have batsmen till no. 10. Both of them also have six bowling options each in the side (four seamers and two spinners).

Suresh Raina, the big star player is back in CSK. The team management has backed youngster Ruturaj Gaikwad to open the innings as Robin Uthappa misses out and will have to wait for his CSK debut. On the other hand, Moeen Ali makes his CSK debut straightaway. 

Delhi Capitals have chosen to go ahead with Shimron Hetmyer and leave Steve Smith out of the playing XI. Tom Curran will be making his debut. No Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav on the side as well. Delhi pick Avesh Khan over the two experienced fast bowlers. 

Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(wk/c), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tom Curran, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(wk/c), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar

Rishabh Pant wins the toss and elects to field first. No Steve Smith in the starting XI of Delhi. The four overseas players are Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes and Tom Curran.

It will be interesting to see the banter between the two captains at the toss. Rishabh Pant will be walking out for his first toss in IPL 2021. 

Shikhar Dhawan is currently leading the list of batsmen with the most number of fours in the tournament. Dhawan needs nine more boundaries to become the first batsman to 600 fours in IPL. On the other hand, Suresh Raina needs seven boundaries to reach 500 fours in IPL. Dhawan is followed by David Warner (510), Virat Kohli (507) and Raina on the list.

MS Dhoni is just two dismissals away from becoming the first wicketkeeper in IPL history to reach 150 dismissals. Dhoni has taken 109 catches and enforced 39 stumpings in IPL so far since the inaugural season. 

Ex-CSK batsman S Badrinath feels Moeen Ali opening the innings will have multiple benefits for the team. If he opens, it will be alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad or Faf du Plessis.

Hello and welcome to the Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals live blog. Expect a lot of chatter behind the stumps as MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant take on each other as captains for the first time. It will be interesting to see the team combinations of both franchises in the absence of a few key players. Stay tuned for more updates and statistics ahead of IPL 2021's second match.