McCullum ton sees Chennai Super Kings to victory in IPL

Sport360 staff 00:45 12/04/2015
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  • Super King: Brendan McCullum.

    Opener Brendon McCullum cracked the IPL season’s first century as Chennai Super Kings thumped Sunrisers Hyderabad by 45 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai yesterday.

    After getting off a cautious start, McCullum opened his shoulders to reach his century off the final ball of the Chennai innings, consuming just 56 deliveries in the process.

    Two-time champions Super Kings ended up with a commanding score of 209 for four and that proved too much for Hyderabad, who only managed to 164 for six in their allotted overs, to give the hosts their second win in as many games.

    As expected, McCullum was proud of his effort, telling reporters: “I though today’s performance was really good and it was a thorough batting performance. We have a really good team spirit and it is nice to start the campaign like this.

    “I was a little more circumspect today. In New Zealand you can start from ball one and be proactive. But it helps when you have Dwayne Smith at the other end.”

    Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed 53 off 29 balls and added 63 runs for the third wicket with the New Zealander. McCullum also had stands of 75 with fellow opener partner Dwayne Smith (27) and 60 with Suresh Raina (14) as Chennai batsmen ran riot.

    Batting on 89 at the start of the final over, McCullum saw Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja (0) get dismissed off successive balls. But he kept his cool and hit a six and a four to reach 99.

    Then off a full length delivery by Kiwi quick Trent Boult, McCullum pushed it to the covers for a single to bring up his ton. McCullum struck nine sixes and seven fours during his innings.

    For Hyderabad, pace spearhead Dale Steyn missed the match and that proved crucial as the rest of the bowlers struggled, with Ishant Sharma leaking 46 runs in three overs.

    The target was big but Sunrisers decided to start cautiously, with openers David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan putting on 30 runs in four overs before the Indian was dismissed by Mohit Sharma.

    Warner, who top-scored for the visitors with a 42-ball 53, waged a lone battle as the rest of the batsmen failed to get going. Dhawan made 26 off 18 balls, while Naman Ojha (15) and Ravi Bopara (22) too failed to get going against some could disciplined Chennai bowling.

    Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was miserly in his four-over spell, conceding just 22 runs for the wicket of Ojha. Dwayne Bravo was the most successful bowler for Chennai with the West Indian returning excellent figures of two for 25, while Mohit took two for 36.

    On his part, captain Dhoni was proud of a good team effort.

    “I think we batted really well as a unit, the beauty was the way he [McCullum] carried the innings,” he said. “It is always important to win at home. It is a good win for us and this now looks like a settled unit. The fielding has gone up quite a few notches.”

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