In reply, Delhi Capitals faltered under pressure despite a fighting effort, eventually being bowled out for 189. Jamie Overton led the charge with a brilliant spell of 4 for 18, dismantling DC’s middle order at key moments.
Tristan Stubbs waged a lone battle with a gritty 60, but lacked support as wickets kept tumbling around him. The loss marked Delhi’s second consecutive defeat of the season.
Chasing 213, DC got off to a flying start, racing to 61 in just five overs courtesy of an aggressive opening partnership between KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka (41). However, Nissanka’s dismissal proved to be a turning point. After being dropped by Khaleel Ahmed off Anshul Kamboj, the Sri Lankan opener failed to capitalise on the reprieve and miscued the very next delivery to Dewald Brevis inside the circle.
At 61 for 2 in 5.2 overs, Delhi were still well in the contest, but CSK’s bowlers regrouped smartly, tightened their lines, and gradually seized control of the game.
Their pacers, Overton, Khaleel and Kamboj began to bash the ball into the red-soil surface and extracted good bounce, cramping the DC batters for space to execute their shots effectively. Sameer Rizvi and Axar Patel fell to such deliveries, and Sarfaraz Khan played a big role in the latter’s dismissal with a tremendous full-length diving catch at point.
They still had David Miller and Tristan Stubbs at their roster to challenge CSK, but Overton’s lovely hard-length ball clipped Miller’s leg-stump bails to compound the worries for the Delhi side. But Samson was the chief architect of CSK’s wonderful Chepauk night.
After being asked to bat first, Sasmson brought up his first substantial knock in a Yellow jersey, and was involved in an excellent stand with Mhatre, who underlined his massive potential in bold letters, for the second wicket — 113 runs in a little over 11 overs. It was Samson’s fourth IPL hundred, the first for CSK and the first one in this IPL season.
A big score from Samson was essential for himself and CSK to restore the belief of ‘Anbu-den’ faithfuls in their team, and he did that on the night with a brilliant innings in front of home fans. It was the typical Samson innings. The Kerala batter had looked unsure of his feet and field placings in earlier matches this season, but on this instance a familiar Samson returned.
The feet, eyes and hands rediscovered their coordination and consequently the shots flowed in all directions off the field. However, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to accelerate even in Power Play, and his 62-run opening wicket alliance was entirely built on Samson’s aggression.
Samson gave an early indication of his touch with two back-to-back fours off pacer Mukesh Kumar but the stand out shot during his stint was a six over extra cover off left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
Fortune too lent its assistance to Samson as he was dropped on 55 by Pathum Nissanka near long-off off Axar Patel.
The 31-year-old fully exploited his reprieve and made DC pay for their lapse. Samson fetched his fifty in 26 balls, one less than Mhatre, and hundred in 52 balls as CSK moved on nicely.
Mhatre, on the other hand, was a real treat to watch until he was retired out after a well-compiled knock, to give the big-hitting Shivam Dube a chance.
But till that moment, Mhatre entertained the Chepauk crowd with some handsome shots.
(With PTI inputs)