Photographs: BCCI
Chennai Super Kings thrashed Delhi Daredevils by 93 runs in an Indian Premier League match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, in Abu Dhabi, on Monday.
Chasing 178 for victory, Delhi managed a paltry 84 in 15.4 overs.
Earlier, Chennai won the toss and decided to bat.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out for "four to five" weeks as a result of a shoulder injury he suffered in the last game.
For Daredevils, star player Kevin Pietersen missed his third game in a row as he is yet to recover from a finger injury.
Teams:
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Mithun Manhas, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Ben Hilfenhaus, Iswhar Pandey
Delhi Daredevils: Dinesh Karthik (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Murali Vijay, JP Duminy, Ross Taylor, Manoj Tiwary, Jimmy Neesham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat.
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Chennai had a relatively quiet start
Image: Jaydev Unadkat celebrates a wicket with his Delhi teammatesPhotographs: BCCI
Chennai were off to a relatively quiet start to their innings after electing to bat, getting to the 50-run mark off exactly the same number of balls.
They suffered their first blow in the fourth over in the form of the dangerous Brendon McCullum (9). The hard-hitting Kiwi batsman failed to latch on to a life provided by J P Duminy off Jaydev Unadkat's first delivery and perished the next ball, caught by substitute Wayne Parnell at short third man.
After McCullum's dismissal, Suresh Raina and Dwayne Smith played cautiously to build the innings together and help Chennai score 65 runs for the loss of one wicket at the halfway mark.
After taking a close look of the wicket, Raina finally opened up and clobbered left-arm spinner Shabaz Nadeem straight over his head for the first six of the innings. But Chennai suffered their second reverse off the last ball of the 11th over when Smith was cleaned up by Nadeem.
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Raina completeled his 20th IPL fifty
Image: Suresh Raina acknowledges the cheers from the crowd after getting to fiftyPhotographs: BCCI
Raina slammed a fine half-century as Chennai posted a competitive 177 for seven.
He finished with 56 off 41 balls, during which he struck five boundaries and one six. He shared 54 runs off 46 balls for the second wicket with Dwayne Smith to lay the base for the total.
It was the 20th time in the IPL that the Uttar Pradesh batsman slammed a 50-plus score.
He was named the man-of-the match for his efforts, which included three catches in Delhi's innings.
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Delhi's chase never really got going
Image: Mohammed Shami walks past Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra JadejaPhotographs: BCCI
Towards the end, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni used his long handle to great effect to race his way to 32 off just 15 balls, with the help of two fours and as many sixes.
Faf Du Plesis also made a useful 24 off 17 balls.
For Delhi, Unadkat (3-32) picked three wickets while pace spearhead Mohammed Shami (1-45) went for runs.
Chasing the target, the Daredevils witnessed a nightmarish start as they lost half of their side with just 50 runs on the board in the 10th over.
Their chase never really got going at they lost wickets at regular intervals.
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