Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Moeen Ali stunned everyone with a booming delivery during their first IPL 2021 opener against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Incidentally, Chennai went down by seven wickets after a stellar batting show from Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw that helped Delhi chase down the target quite comfortably.
Batting first, Chennai did exceedingly well to post 188 runs on the board. Suresh Raina made a stunning return to the CSK outfit scoring a valiant half-century with good contributions from Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, and Sam Curran. The English all-rounder Curran, in particular, was spectacular with a 15-ball 34 runs knock which included four boundaries and two sixes propelled Chennai Super Kings to a challenging total.
Moeen Ali delivers a booming delivery
In reply to CSK’s target, Delhi Capitals got off to a cracking start to the game. Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw added a 138-run stand for the opening wicket before Shaw departed for 72 off 38 balls. He struck 9 boundaries and 3 sixes. Meanwhile, during their partnership, Moeen Ali grabbed the headlines with a surprising delivery. During the first ball of the 13th over, the England all-rounder stunned Dhawan by bowling a booming delivery. Only Moeen Ali knows whether it was intentional or did it slip out of his hands.
Watch the video here:
https://twitter.com/lodulalit001/status/1380935039274250244?s=20
Although Prithvi Shaw got out after a well-made 72 runs, Shikhar Dhawan chipped in with 85 runs as newly-appointed skipper Rishabh Pant finished off the proceedings with a boundary to start his IPL captaincy career with a win.
Meanwhile, speaking about Moeen Ali, he had a pretty decent performance with the bat as he entertained the fans with sixes and fours. Moeen Ali who added a 53-run stand with Raina scored 36 off 24 balls including 4 fours and 2 sixes. However, Ali was a tad expensive with the ball going for 33 runs in the three overs.