CHASING AN imposing target of 166 runs in 20 overs, Delhi Giants fell short by five runs and lost the first 20-20 match to Chennai Superstars. This was the first match to be held at Gurgaon as part of the ongoing ICL champions league.

In the end, Delhi fell short by only five runs as Dhruv Mahajan scored some fine shots to score 20 runs in last four balls of the match. The Delhi team needed 25 of the last over, but some tight bowling earlier by the Chennai team did not allow them to get away with the match.

Perhaps, the tactical mistake of sending Mahajan in the tail end of the match cost Delhi team the win.

Earlier, chasing a 167 runs target set by Chennai Superstars, Delhi Giants made an impressive start, while Monish Mishra and Marvan Attapatu played some good shots and took the score to 60 runs in seven overs.

At a score of 60, Mishra was bowled out by Syed Mohammad at the individual score of 36 runs (20 balls). He played some exquisite drives and flicks to the fence. Young Abid Nabi came to the crease after the fall of his wicket, but even before he could settle another wicket fell in the shape of Attapatu. The Sri Lankan was brilliantly run out by Sathish, on 25 off 26 balls.

At this stage, the match was evenly poised with Delhi Giants needing 91 runs from 52 balls. With seven wickets in hand, Delhi batsmen Abhinav Bali and Abid Nabi looked ready to give the charge and managed to send a scare. Both Bali and Nabi hit a six each and took the score to 90 runs. Bali was, however, bowled by Sathish at 10, on the very next ball.

At the end of 14 overs, the score read 100 runs and Delhi Giants still had six wickets to spare as Nabi and Nixon, who replaced Bali looked good to make a fight out of the match. It was some intelligent bowling and tight line by Chennai bowlers, which did not allow the batsmen the freedom to scores at their will. They also used the slower ball effectively to ensure that boundaries were choked.

Delhi needed 62 runs in five overs, a task which looked difficult, with pitch helping the bowlers to an extent, as the ball did not come to the bat. This being the first match at Gurgaon, it is likely that batsmen particularly those batting in the second inning, will find it difficult to chase the target.

Abid Nabi hit a brilliant six over square leg boundary, with a sweet flick of his wrists, to take the score to 112 in 15.2 overs. He was bowled the very next ball by Jesuraj, as he misread the length and miscued an attempted pull.

The score read 115 for five wickets in 16 overs and Chennai Superstars had a firm grip on the match, when JP Yadav was caught at long off by Sathish on the bowling of Hayward.

Dhruv Mahajan went to the crease at the fall of Yadav to give Nixon company, who hit three consecutive boundaries in the same Hayward over.

At 127 in 17 overs, Delhi needed 40 runs in 18 balls, not an impossible task by 20-20 standards. However, Jesuraj bowled a tight line in this 18th over and allowed only six runs in the over making the task almost impossible to chase.

In the last over Delhi needed 25 runs, when Ian Harvey bowled Shane Bond on the first ball of his over. Mahajan played some lusty shots in the last over but could not manage to take his team to victory. He made 21 runs in eigth balls to reach very close to the target.