Shane Watson’s belligerence at the top, a steady Faf du Plessis, yet another good knock from Ambati Rayudu and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s heroics in the last six overs took Chennai to 211-4 in Pune. Delhi, who won big over Kolkata Knight Riders after Shreyas Iyer replaced Gautam Gambhir as the captain, managed 198-5 in reply. The win took Chennai to the top of the points table.

Watson provided Chennai with a solid start again, adding 102 runs with du Plessis (33 in 33), before becoming the third man out for a 40-ball 78.

Watson felt Dhoni’s influence had rubbed off on everyone in the team, and all the Chennai’s players now have a serious desire to win games for their team.

“To have the privilege to play with MS and to see how much it means to him to play for CSK, that’s rubbed off on everyone. It means so much to him, as it does to everyone here. To see him bat as well as he is, he is obviously an incredible player, but this is as good as I’ve seen him hit the ball,” said Watson.

“Mostly it is the desire, about how much it means to MS, and that’s rubbed off on me for sure with to be able to play for CSK.

“We all have seen from the start how much it means to the guys who are here at the CSK before they got banned for two years. How much it meant to them to be able to come back and play in the IPL so that’s enough motivation to see those guys.”