Samson's 87 finishes it: CSK chase down DC at the Jaitley with 15 balls to spare
Sanju Samson finished it off in the way Delhi Capitals had once hoped he would for them, and Chennai Super Kings walked off the Arun Jaitley Stadium with eight wickets and 15 balls in hand. DC put 155 for 7 on the board after winning the toss and batting; CSK got there at 159 for 2 in 17.3 overs, with Samson 87 not out from 52 balls and the Player of the Match award already in his pocket.
DC's middle order saves a flat innings
Delhi's top order never settled. Karun Nair fell to Noor Ahmad for 13 from 13, Nitish Rana followed soon after for 15 from 13, also to Noor, and Delhi's first five wickets all went down without anyone reaching 20. Tristan Stubbs and Sameer Rizvi finally pushed back. Their sixth-wicket stand was worth 65 and dragged the innings into a competitive corner before Jamie Overton ended Stubbs's 38 from 31 and the platform with him. A 20-run final over allowed DC to climb to 155, which on a slow Jaitley pitch felt closer to par than to anything CSK should have feared.
Noor Ahmad finished with 2 for 22 from his three overs, the most influential bowling spell of the night. Akeal Hosein bowled out for 1 for 19 and squeezed the powerplay shut. Between them they did the work that left the Delhi total below where the surface should have allowed.
Samson takes the chase off the table
CSK's chase had time and depth and never really felt under threat. Samson found his timing inside the powerplay, brought up his fifty from 32 balls, and then opened the match up with a 20-run over off T Natarajan. By the end of the 15th over CSK were 126 for 2 and the result was effectively settled. Kartik Sharma's cameo, including a pulled four off Axar Patel, kept the rate above ten when it didn't need to be, and Samson stayed unbeaten as the chase closed out.
Ruturaj Gaikwad's side now sit on 10 points from 10, alive but only just, with the playoff window still open and the remaining four games the harder test. For Delhi, the loss leaves them on 8 from 10, in the bottom half of the table, and a playoff path that now needs close to a flawless finish in the games they have left. Axar Patel chose to bat on a pitch that did not reward Delhi's top order, and CSK never needed to scramble.
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