The Delhi Daredevils won by just nine runs as the Chennai Super Kings, chasing 190 to win, lost five wickets in the final five overs, which stymied a brave run chase by the men in yellow. A rapid-fire 57 off 27 balls by Matt Hayden, including three sixes, gave the Chennai Super Kings a sniff, but some fine death bowling by the Delhi Daredevils saw Chennai Super Kings score just 24 off the last four overs. Hayden's 57 was enough to put him back on top of the Orange Cap competition for the man with the most aggregate runs. He now has 166, 32 more than Rahul Dravid of the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
"We had a bit of a run chase on our hands, and that probably suits my style of play," said Hayden. "It was a great celebration of IPL cricket, the fans got to see almost 400 runs in 40 overs. When the field's up in the first six overs it's significant to get the big runs, but you still have to hit them well. We were right with the run rate all the way through, but the beauty of the cricket in the DLF IPL is that it gets exciting towards the end."
The Chennai Super Kings got excited at the beginning of their innings as Lakshmipathy Balaji induced an edge off Gautam Gambhir to be caught out by MS Dhoni off the first ball of the match. Twelve balls later Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag was out, top-edging a full delivery from Mapreet Gony to Albie Morkel at mid-on. De Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan put on a third-wicket partnership of 68, with Dilshan out for 50 after mistiming a full delivery by Morkel. However, the two ruined Andrew Flintoff's day by battering his bowling and leaving him with figures of 50 from four overs, the worst bowling figures of Season 2009 in the DLF IPL thus far.
De Villiers survived being dropped by his South Africa and Titans teammate Morkel on the boundary the very next ball after making his 50.
He then took this as a sign of his luck and went on to smash a further four sixes and another four boundaries for a total of six sixes and five fours on his way to a superb 105 not out off just 54 balls. It was his first DLF IPL century and the first in Season 2009 in South Africa.
"I was a bit scratchy in the first 50 and had a little bit of luck after that thanks to Albie," said De Villiers. "After I got my 50 I went for a few more shots. It was a good wicket to play on and we had to get the runs because they are a very good batting side. We've got a nice thing going in our side now. We're full of confidence. We go to Port Elizabeth now and let's hope we can keep it going."
The Chennai Super Kings Captain MS Dhoni thought that the difference between the two teams was the bowling at the death of the two innings: "They bowled well in the death and we were nowhere near them with regards to that. I hope our bowlers will pay attention to that. We took some early wickets, but we gave them 20 or 30 runs too many."
The Delhi Daredevils play the early game on Sunday afternoon against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Port Elizabeth, while the Chennai Super Kings next take on the Kolkata Knight Riders in Cape Town on Saturday evening.
