NEW DELHI: Chennai Super Kings’ lack of urgency in a tricky chase cost them dearly as they slumped to a 25-run defeat against Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League 2025 clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.
Chasing 184, CSK were reeling at 74/5 in 10.4 overs when MS Dhoni walked in — his earliest entry in a full 20-over match since 2023. With 110 needed off 56 balls, he joined Vijay Shankar, who was on 24 off 23. The stage was set for a counterattack, but what followed was a sluggish and baffling passage of play.
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Despite their reputation as big-hitters, Dhoni and Shankar crawled to just 32 runs in the next 4.2 overs. Shankar eventually brought up his fifty in the 17th over off 43 balls — the slowest half-century of the season. Alarmingly, CSK now account for three of the four slowest fifties in IPL 2025raising concerns over the intent of their batters.
Slowest 50s in IPL 2025 (by balls)
- 43 – v Shankar
CSK vs DC in Chennai - 42 – R Ravindra CSK vs MI in Chennai
- 40 – Y Jaiswal RR vs Pbks in Chandigarh
- 39 – L Livingstone RCB vs GT in Bengaluru
- 37 – R Gaikwad CSK vs RR in Guwahati
Dhoni, too, endured a forgettable outing. His first boundary — a six off Mukesh Kumar — came off the 19th ball he faced, the slowest any batter has taken to hit a boundary in this season. Though the duo added an unbeaten 84-run partnership, it came in 9.2 overs — far too passive to make an impact.
Earlier, KL Rahul anchored Delhi’s innings with a classy 77 off 51 balls to take them to 183/6. With this win, DC remain unbeaten while CSK’s stuttering campaign continues.
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, points table and IPL live score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Don’t miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap.
