Chennai Super Kings bounced back in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament with a superlative batting display against Dolphins at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore last night.
The former champions raked up a massive total of 242 and then bowled out Dolphins for 188 to record a 54-run victory that saw them rise from the bottom to the second position in Group A.
Opener Brendon McCullum began the onslaught with a 29-ball 49 before Suresh Raina waded in smashing eight sixes and four fours on way to a belligerent 90 off 43 balls.
Faf du Plessis kept the run-rate on a high with a 19-ball 30 and Ravindra Jadeja provided the finishing touches clobbering three sixes and three fours in his 40 not out off 14 balls as Chennai amassed 242-6 in 20 overs.
It was a new high for the team as they equalled the highest total recorded in the tournament, matching Otago Volts’ 242-4 against Perth Scorchers last year.
The Chennai innings was built around Raina, who was involved in a 91-run partnership off 7.3 overs with McCullum for the second wicket.
The 27-year-old was unforgiving and punished everything that came his way. Length balls were put away and fuller ones were deposited into orbit quicker than they were delivered by the bowler. Even back of a length deliveries that the left-hander is perceived as being uncomfortable against were not spared.
Raina showcased good footwork, timing and his ability to muscle the ball during his innings until he was dismissed top-edging fast bowler Robbie Frylinck to Cameron Delport at point.
He missed his third T20 century by 10 runs but he scaled another milestone by became the first Indian batsman to log 5,000 runs in the format.
Raina’s tally now stands at an impressive 5,023 runs from 183 matches with a strike rate of 141.41. The 27-year-old is also one short of 200 sixes in the format.
In reply, the Dolphins made a bold dash creating a new Powerplay record crunching 85 runs in the first six overs bettering Chennai’s 70 scored earlier in the day.
Captain Morne va Wyk (17 off seven balls) and his opening partner Cameron Delport (34 off nine balls) rattled Chennai with their blistering assault but the loss of wickets impeded their hopes and they were bowled out for 188 in 20 overs.
Cody Chetty (38 off 28 balls) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld (30 off 22 balls) did their bit but it was not enough to unsettle Chennai.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo did an impressive job of choking the Dolphins’ chase claiming two wickets for 17 in his four overs for the best economical figures in the match where all bowlers went over eight runs an over. Medium-pacer Mohit Sharma despite being carted for 41 runs in his four overs, was the most successful claiming four wickets.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who suffered a rare failure with the bat when he was dismissed off the first ball, surprisingly did not give bowl Ishwar Pandey, a genuine medium-pacer, at all.
Dhoni lauded the batsmen for a fantastic display but indicated that the bowlers needed to show rapid improvement to ensure their progress in the tournament. “We batted really well. All credit to Raina and McCullum for a great start, it was important to utilise all our resources so we went really hard.
“With out bowling struggling slightly it was important to get those 15-20 extra runs, even if we go down trying to get those runs.
“If you want to win tournaments you have to come up with better bowling performances, the batsmen won’t score 240 every time,” he added.
