We have seen everything tonight! Rishabh Pant coming back with his first half-century for a while; Pathirana's scorching yorkers; Khaleel's brilliant new ball spell; Rahane's timing, and at last, Thala MS Dhoni's sizzling show turning back the clocks! DC won their first game of the season, and CSK lost their first of the season. The action continues with MI and RR facing each other at Wankhede tomorrow!
For now, it's me, AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Akshay Bhide and Sidharth Gulati, who, alongside our scorer/analyst Paras Yadav, brought you this memorable game of cricket. We will meet again. Until then, it's cheers!
Khaleel Ahmed (POTM): "Yes, sir! It's all because of my consistent hard work at the domestic level. I have played a lot of matches in the last six months which has helped me know my game better. I have worked hard to swing the ball, and now I am getting results for it.
I feel really happy when the ball swings and the batters get beaten. I have tried to figure out how I can keep myself fit. The red-ball game teaches you a lot about how the ball is coming out of the hand.
Of Course! The ultimate goal is to get back in the Indian team. It's definitely the goal of mine. Kindly keep me blessing the same way."
Player of the Match: Khaleel Ahmed
Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals Skipper): "I think the bowlers have been very good today. We spoke about learning from our mistakes and did well. Shaw has been playing well in the nets and has been working hard in the last two weeks. We thought it's time for us to give him a chance.
(On using Mukesh in the death overs) It depends on the situations. We decided to give him in the death tonight and it was good to see him bowl that way.
As a cricketer, I decided to give my 100% everyday. It took time as I wasn't playing cricket for one and a half year but I thought I have to give myself some time to get ready.
One and a half years, I was looking forward to getting on the field. I was waiting for this because I'm a cricketer and I wanted to get on the field. There was self-belief and I thought it was important for me to get on the field."
Most Fours of the Match: David Warner (5 Fours)
Super Sixes of the Match: David Warner (3 Sixes so indeed is MS Dhoni but Warner has scored more runs)
Fantasy Player of the Match: Matheesha Pathirana (107 points)
Electric Striker of the Match: MS Dhoni (37* off 16 balls at a strike-rate of 231.25)
11:37 PM IST and Local Time: We are ready with the post-match presentations...