In a disappointing display at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) succumbed to a 25-run defeat against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The match, which saw CSK chasing a target of 184, turned into a struggle as the team’s batting lineup failed to show the required urgency.
CSK found themselves in deep trouble at 74/5 in 10.4 overs when MS Dhoni made his way to the crease. This was his earliest entry in a full 20-over match since 2023. With 110 runs needed off 56 balls, Dhoni joined Vijay Shankar, who was batting on 24 off 23 balls. The stage seemed set for a thrilling counterattack, but what unfolded was a sluggish and perplexing passage of play.
Despite their reputations as powerful hitters, Dhoni and Shankar managed to score only 32 runs in the next 4.2 overs. Shankar eventually reached his fifty in the 17th over, taking a painstaking 43 balls to do so. This was the slowest half-century of the IPL 2025 season. Alarmingly, CSK now holds the record for three of the four slowest fifties in the tournament, raising serious questions about the intent and approach of their batters.
Dhoni, too, had a forgettable outing. His first boundary, a six off Mukesh Kumar, came off the 19th ball he faced, marking the slowest any batter has taken to hit a boundary in this season. Although the duo managed an unbeaten 84-run partnership, it took them 9.2 overs to achieve this, a pace far too passive to mount a successful chase.
Earlier in the match, KL Rahul anchored Delhi’s innings with a classy 77 off 51 balls, guiding them to a competitive total of 183/6. With this victory, DC remain unbeaten in the tournament, while CSK’s campaign continues to stutter.