IPL PHOTOS: Shaw shines as Delhi Capitals rout CSK

Images from the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals, in Dubai, on Friday.

• Scorecard

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to come down the order yet again backfired as Delhi Capitals rode on Prithvi Shaw's fluent fifty and a disciplined bowling effort to inflict a 44-run defeat on Chennai Super Kings, in the Indian Premier League, in Dubai, on Friday.

Shaw slammed 64 off 43 balls and shared a 94-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan to guide Delhi Capitals to 175 for three in their 20 overs after they were put into bat.

In reply, CSK came up with a lacklustre batting performance as they finished on a disappointing 131 for seven. Delhi's second consecutive win took them to the top of the points table.

CSK skipper Dhoni did not push himself up the order on Friday, given the expectations after his decision to hold himself back in the game against Rajasthan Royals backfired, which meant the veteran again did not have enough time and balls to take his side home.

Coming in at No. 6 in the 16th over with 78 runs needed from 4.2 overs while chasing 176, Dhoni struggled to 15 runs from 12 balls, in what was a below par performance from the two-time champions.

South African Faf du Plessis was the top-scorer with 43 for CSK as he continued his good form with the bat.

Meanwhile, pacers Kagiso Rabada (3 for 26) and Anrich Nortje (2 for 21) shone with the ball for Delhi as CSK never really challenged with the bat.

CSK's veteran opener Murali Vijay's struggle continued as he could make only 10 for his third straight failure.

Fellow opener Shane Watson fell while attempting to break the shackles, caught in the deep by Shimron Hetmyer off Axar Patel, unable to capitalise on a reprieve by Shaw.

With the asking rate climbing up, du Plessis could not force the pace against a disciplined Delhi bowling attack with the spin duo of Amit Mishra (4-0-23-0) and Axar Patel (4-0-18-1) keeping the CSK batsmen on a tight leash oin the middle overs.

Ruturaj Gaikwad (5) and Kedar Jadhav (26 from 21 balls) could not provide the much-needed thrust as CSK's woes continued.

Earlier, Shaw struck a fluent half-century and shared a a 94-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan to give Delhi a strong start.

Shaw slammed a quickfire 64 off 43 balls, while senior partner Dhawan hit a steady 35 off 27 balls to give Delhi a good start after they were put into bat.

The duo started slowly, scoring just 36 runs in the first six overs of Powerplay, before opening up to stitch 94 runs for the opening wicket in 10.4 overs.

Shaw got into his stride, hitting two consecutive boundaries off Deepak Chahar.

The Mumbai youngster didn't appear to rush things and played some attractive shots.

Once CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni introduced the spin duo of Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja in the seventh over, both Shaw and Dhawan went on the offensive.

Chawla, who was taken apart by Sanju Samson in their previous game against Rajasthan Royals, came in for some rough treatment as did Jadeja who went wicketless in his four overs, conceding 44 runs.

Dhawan after playing second fiddle for a while, joined the party and hit a couple of attractive boundaries and slogged Jadeja's first ball for a six over midwicket.

The Delhi openers hammered 58 in the next 4.4 overs after the slow start.

Chawla broke the dangerous-looking partnership by removing both Dhawan and Shaw in consecutive overs.

Rishabh Pant, who hit a fluent 37 not out from 25 balls and captain Shreyas Iyer (26) built the Delhi innings in the middle overs, before the latter was caught by a diving wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Sam Curran as CSK managed to pull things back towards the end.