Chennai Super Kings have lost the game by 25 runs and with it, Delhi Capitals continue their winning run in IPL 2025. They have won three matches on the trot now. Superb start this is for the Axar Patel led side!

13 runs came off Mitchell Starc's final over but Delhi Capitals would not mind it as they are just 6 balls away from victory in this game. Chennai Super Kings need 41 runs in 6 balls.

13 runs came off the Mukesh Kumar over. Chennai Super Kings need 54 runs in 12 balls. The duo of MS Dhoni and Vijay Shankar could have done well with the bat. Their intent has been really poor in this chase and that sees the asking rate go over 25 for CSK. Only a mircacle could win them this game from this point.

MS Dhoni finally connnects one. He hits the Mukesh Kumar delivery down the ground for a biggie. However, it has come too late for Chennai Super Kings. They need 57 runs in 14 balls

Only five runs came off the Axar Patel over. The asking rate is peaking but what is surprising is the intent of the Chennai Super Kings batters - MS Dhoni and Vijay Shankar. They are not giving their best to play big shots. Only 11 runs have come off the last two overs. CSK need 67 runs in 18 balls.

CSK 117/5 (17)

Only six runs came off Mohit Sharma's third voer and that puts CSK in more trouble. The asking rate has gone to 18 for Chennai Super Kings. They need 72 runs in 24 balls. Can CSK win it from this point? It is an extremely tough ask to be very honest. Having said that you can never be sure about any result in cricket.

Only three runs have come off the first three balls of Mohit Sharma's third over. Delhi Capitals have managed to keep things under control and Chennai Super Kings are under pressure, for sure. They need 75 runs in 27 balls.

Mohit Sharma conceded 10 runs in the over but Chennai Super Kings still need 88 runs in 36 balls. The asking rate for them is over 14 now.

CSK 96/5 (14)

Tristan Stubbs has dropped the catch of Vijay Shankar at long-on. The right-handed CSK batter hit the Kuldeep Yadav delivery down the ground but Stubbs failed to take the catch while running forward. The ball spilled out of his hands and Shankar took a single. 

Vipraj Nigam has bowled a four-run over. He ends his quota of four overs with figures of 2 for 27. Brilliant spell this was from the young spinner. Chennai Super Kings need 104 runs in 48 balls. Can MS Dhoni win this game for them?

Ravindra Jadeja is OUT! It was a fuller ball and Jadeja was caught plumb as he missed his shot and the ball hit him on the front foot. Kuldeep Yadav takes the wicket and walks in MS Dhoni to bat at the number 6 position.

Vipraj Nigam nearly had the wicket of Vijay Shankar but Kuldeep Yadav dropped the catch at backward square leg. He was running back as the ball went high in the air but failed to complete the catch. 10 runs came off the over and a wicket. 

Shivam Dube is gone! He smashed Vipraj Nigam for a six on the first ball of the over but mistimed the next delivery and got out. Tristan Stubbs took the catch after running in to his right from long-on. Chennai Super Kings need 119 runs in 64 balls.

CSK 65/4 (9.2)

Only seven runs came off Kuldeep Yadav's first over. Shivam Dube tried to play big shots in the over but failed to time it properly. Chennai Super Kings need 125 runs in 66 balls. The asking rate is over 11 for them now. It seems the pitch has slowed down a bit with spinners getting more aid.

Mitchell Starc didn't get any wicket in the over but he conceded just three runs in it, putting more pressure on CSK. Chennai Super Kings need 136 runs in 78 balls. The asking rate has gone over 10 for them now with no set batter at the crease. This is an extremely tough chase for CSK now.

This is a poor delivery from Vipraj Nigam to a new batter Shivam Dube and the latter has taken good advantage of it. Dube slammed it through the sweeper cover for a four. A single and a dot ball followed it. 10 runs came off the over.

CSK 46/3 (6)

More trouble for Chennai Super Kings! Devon Conway is out for 13 off 14 balls. He top-edged a Vipraj Nigam delivery and Axar Patel took the catch comfortably inside the ring around the short mid-on region. CSK are three down.

Delhi Capitals have controlled this innings so far. Their fast bowlers Mukesh Kumar and Mitchell Starc have been right on the money. Despite an 11-run over from Mohit Sharma, the asking rate has gone to 9.87 for CSK. Chennai Super Kings need 148 runs in 90 balls. 

On fifth ball of the 3rd over, a fuller ball from Mitchell Starc hit Vijay Shankar on the front foot. There was an appeal for an LBW but DC were not that confident with it. As a result, they didn't review it. Later, replays revealed that the ball hit Shankar's toe and he was plumb.

Mitchell Starc is breathing fire! He conceded just five runs in the over and picked the wicket of CSK captain Gaikwad in it. Chennai Super Kings need 164 runs in 102 balls. The asking rate is 9.65 for them. They need to play the remaining three overs of powerplay well.

Massive blow for CSK! Mitchell Starc has dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad and CSK are in some real trouble now. They are two down inside three overs.

CSK 20/2 (2.3)

Rachin Ravindra is OUT! Mukesh Kumar provides Delhi Capitals the first wicket. Ravindra edged the ball into the hands of Mukesh, who took a good catch on the follow through. CSK are one down in the second over and inside walks CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad to bat at number 3. 

CSK 14/1 (1.5)

That was a poor start from Mitchell Starc! He conceded 10 runs in the first over. On the final delivery, Starc sprayed it on the legs of Devon Conway. The ball hit the batter's pad and ran away to the fine leg fence for a four.

Mitchell Starc starts with a dot delivery to Rachin Ravindra outside off stump. Devon Conway is at the other end.

End of 20 overs and DC have posted 183 for 6. At one point, they were looking to score something close to 200 but CSK bounced back beautifully and a lot of credit goes to Matheesha Pathirana for that. The pacer conceded just 13 runs in his last two overs with one wicket in it.

Ashutosh Sharma is run-out! He mistimed the Prathirana delivery on the leg side and tried to take a couple but got run out while coming for the second run. Ravindra Jadeja fielded the ball at square leg and fired in a superb throw and MS Dhoni whipped off the bails.

KL Rahul is gone!

DC 179/5 (19.2)

18.3 - Mukesh Choudhary has dropped the catch of KL Rahul. How big a blunder this is going to be for CSK? KL Rahul hit it high in the air but Mukesh failed to take the catch. The ball popped out of his hands. MS Dhoni gave a stare to the bowler after the dropped catch. 

This was a really good over from Matheesha Pathirana. Just six singles came off it, no boundary. He mixed his pace really well and kept both KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs guessing. Pathirana has one more over left and he will bowl the final one of the innings. Mukesh Choudhary is set to bowl the 4th over.

Khaleel Ahmed ends his brilliant spell with figures of 2 for 25 in four overs. He looked in control from the first over itself and managed to maintain it throughout his bowling. Matheesha Pathirana is set to bowl the 18th over.

Khaleel Ahmed strikes! He provided CSK a much-needed breakthrough as the 56-run partnership between KL Rahul and Sameer Rizvi is finally broken. Rizvi departs for 20 off 15 balls. Delhi Capitals are four down vs Chennai Super Kings.

Sameer Rizvi has slammed Noor Ahmad's final delivery over the long-on for a biggie. This turned out to be an expensive over from the star CSK spinner. A total of 17 runs came off the over. Noor has given away 36 runs in his three overs so far with just one wicket.

DC 138/3 (15)

14.1 - This is a really good shot from KL Rahul. Noor Ahmad tried to bowl it away from Rahul but the right-handed batter still managed to fetch the fuller delivery from near the tramline and slammed it down the ground for a four.

KL Rahul raced to his fifty in 33 balls. He got there with a single. This was an economical over from Matheesha Pathirana as only 8 runs came off it. Rahul could now try to accelerate a bit more as only 6 overs remain in the DC innings.

12.2 - Ravindra Jadeja bowled it around good length but KL Rahul jumped out of his crease and slammed it down the ground for a six. This is brilliant batting from the DC opener. He is only two runs away from his fifty.

A fuller ball from Matheesha Pathirana and outside off stump and KL Rahul has driven it away for a four. With the shot, Rahul moves to 42 off 29 balls. A total of 11 runs came off Pathirana's first over. This is not what CSK wanted! 

Axar Patel is gone! Noor Ahmad does the trick for CSK with a googly and continues his terrific form in IPL 2025. Axar went for a big hit and missed it completely. He departs for 21 off 14 balls. That is the end of a good cameo from the DC captain.

DC 90/3 (10.4)

KL Rahul finally manages to get a boundary. He had been trying for it, but here he connects it beautifully. The Noor Ahmad delivery was slog-swept over the deep mid-wicket for a biggie. With it, Rahul moves to 35 off 24 balls.

Axar Patel gets an outside edge as he tries to cut away the Noor Ahmad delivery. It goes very fine for a four. A dot ball follows and that is the end of the over. Nine runs came off Noor's first over. Delhi Capitals are placed well as they are scoring at 8.44 per over.

DC 76/2 (9)

Ravichandran Ashwin has bowled another economical over. He gave only 7 runs in it despite getting hit for a four on the final ball of the over. Noor Ahmad will bowl the 9th over. The Afghan spinner currently holds the Purple Cap with 9 wickets in 3 matches.

What a start from Axar Patel! He got an overpitched delivery on the first ball he faced and smacked it down the ground for a six.

DC 60/2 (7)

Abhishek Porel is OUT! Ravindra Jadeja has provided Chennai Super Kings the breakthrough! It was bowled at good length outside off stump and Porel played it into the hands of Pathirana at short third man. Porel departs for 33 off 20 balls.

Good start from Ravichandran Ashwin! Despite bowling the last over of powerplay, he conceded only 8 runs in it.

Khaleel Ahmed also went for runs in his third over. KL Rahul slammed him for a six over the long-leg on the second ball and then stole a couple before taking a single. A total of 11 runs came off the over. R Ashwin will bowl the final over of powerplay.

Fuller ball from Mukesh Choudhary and KL Rahul has slammed it down the ground for a four. He takes a single off the very next ball. This is smart batting from the DC opener. This is not a flat deck and anything around 180 could be a really good total it seems. Maybe some more overs could give a better idea of the surface.

Khaleel Ahmed continues to keep it tight from one end. He has bowled a four-run over. No boundary came in it, just four singles. Mukesh Choudhary is back to bowl another over. Can Porel attack him again? Let's see.

Poor bowling from Mukesh Choudhary and superb batting from Abishek Porel. Mukesh leaked 19 runs in his first over as Porel slammed him for three fours and one six in it. That will take some pressure off DC, who suffered an early blow.

DC 20/1 (2)

Khaleel Ahmed has started Chennai Super Kings' bowling with a one-run over that also included the wicket of Jake Fraser-McGurk. It was hit high in the air by the DC opener before R Ashwin ran back from mid-on to take the catch.

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Jake Fraser-McGurk, KL Rahul(w), Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma

"We were looking to bat as well. Looks a bit dry. It's a bit cloudy, won't change much. You always want momentum in T20 cricket. Overall, the chat has been positive. Fielding is something which we can improve day by day. We want to be proactive. Elbow is good. Conway comes in for Overton. Mukesh comes in from Tripathi," said Ruturaj Gaikwad. 

"We are going to bat first. Feels like there'll be help for the bowlers. Expect it to get slower as the game progresses. In our team, we have a few players who have captained other franchises and that helps me a lot. Same combination. Faf is not fit for this game, Sameer Rizvi is playing," said Axar Patel. 

"It's hot but there's a small breeze. 64m and 70m side boundaries, 78m down the ground," says Matthew Hayden. Eoin Morgan joins him to say "It is beautiful to look at, typically what you get at Chepauk. There's not a blade of grass and it's rolled into the pitch and underneath it's quite firm. You have to come here and adapt to the conditions. The heat is one thing and the surface is another. It might play a bit two-paced, particularly for batters just coming in to start their innings. 

Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel won the toss and opted to bat against Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2025 match on Saturday in Chennai. 

According to Cricbuzz, there is uncertainty surrounding Ruturaj Gaikwad. The home side will take a late call on their skipper's availability. On the eve of the game, Gaikwad received only throwdowns for a brief period and didn't face the bowlers in the nets.

As we wait for the game to start, check out our CSK special podcast! Ex-CSK star and current CSK scout Vidyut S joins us to talk about the franchise's formula for success, MS Dhoni the leader, stories of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin and more!

Full Episode: 

The head-to-head record between DC and CSK at Chepauk is overwhelmingly in favour of home team that has won seven out of the nine matches.

The presence of Faf du Plessis in the DC ranks can be worth its weight in gold as his experience of playing multiple seasons for CSK and the knowledge of conditions will help youngsters like Jake-Fraser McGurk, Tristan Stubbs and Abhishek Porel, who form the core of the batting line-up.

Since Ayush Mhatre went unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction last year in Jeddah, he can only come in CSK as a replacement player in case of any injury/unavailability of a player. Speaking to the Times of India (TOI), CSK CEO Kasi Viswanath confirmed that they have indeed called Mhatre up for mid-season trials. However, he insisted that there are no injuries in the team and Mhatre has only been called up for trials.

That Chennai Super Kings isn't convinced with Tripathi is evident after the team management called up 17-year-old Mumbai opener Ayush Mhatre, who has already played for India U-19 and scored first-class centuries in the last edition of Ranji Trophy.

Opener Rahul Tripathi, who has been a sought-after utility-man for various teams at the top of the order, hasn't exactly looked comfortable against top quality pace bowling in the matches so far. Tripathi has failed to justify Dhoni's move to play him as an opener and drop Ruturaj Gaikwad one slot below despite regular skipper's proven record at the start of the innings.

For CSK, the diminishing returns of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is no more the finisher he was, is an issue. Save Shivam Dube, CSK do not have players who can belt bowlers at a strike-rate between 180 to 200 during the back-10 if they are chasing a score of 180 plus.

In terms of batting, Delhi Capitals will certainly hold a slight advantage with the middle-order having a bit more firepower this year with presence of Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam and the seasoned KL Rahul, who is expected to play with lot more freedom given that there are no captaincy burden on him in his new franchise.

Kuldeep Yadav with an economy rate of 5.25 is the best in terms of quality among the four spinners expected to be in action during the game. Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad has so far got nine wickets at an equally impressive economy rate of 6.83 and he can certainly prove to be a handful during the middle overs with balls expected to grip the surface. It will be an engaging contest as both wrist spinners are very different in nature. While Noor bowls at a quicker pace and mostly takes the ball away from the right handers, wily customer Kuldeep has perfected the art of using the angles of the crease and varying the pace of his deliveries.

Noor Ahmed's guile will meet its perfect match in Kuldeep Yadav's artistry as two wrist spinners will drive the narrative in the match. It will be an afternoon game in sapping Chennai heat and the kind of tracks on offer will certainly make it a 50-50 match.

"I don't think we've actually thought about that too much. Well, I haven't thought about it too much. I'm sure (Stephen) Fleming and Rutu (Gaikwad) have thought about that. But we've got some young guy coming through. He's behind the stumps. Maybe he could do a good job. He's got a bit of experience in the role, so maybe he could do it, but I'm not exactly sure, to be honest," said Stephen Fleming.

Ruturaj Gaikwad had taken a blow on his elbow against Rajasthan Royals a few days ago and remains doubtful for the afternoon clash owing to the injury, which could pave the way for CSK's five-time IPL winner Dhoni to take charge.

MS Dhoni could be Chennai Super Kings' stand-in captain on Saturday if skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad fails to make it to the playing XI against Delhi Capitals in their IPL clash in Chennai.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the IPL 2025 match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals, straight from MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Stay tuned for all the live updates.