Suresh Raina's brilliant 43-ball 90 proved decisive with Chennai Super Kings thrashing the Dolphins by 54 runs to register their first win in CLT20
Bangalore: The Dolphins drowned under Suresh Raina's whirlwind knock eventually losing to the Chennai Super Kings by 54 runs in their Group A match of the Oppo Champions League Twenty20 here today.
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Chasing a mammoth target of 243 to win, the South African side could only manage 188 from their 20 overs as they were bowled out off the final ball. The win means CSK's semifinal prospects are still alive.
Chasing a stiff target, Dolphins were cruising at 56 for two by the end of third over and had crossed hundred by the
end of ninth. But the South African side could not sustain the tempo and lost its way after the initial promise.
Mohit Sharma was CSK's most successful bowler with impressive figures of four for 41.
Chennai Super Kings batsman Suresh Raina celebrates his fifty against Dolphins during the Champions League Twenty20 match at Chinanswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday.
Suresh Raina smashed his way to a 43-ball 90 as Chennai Super Kings notched up an imposing 242 for six.
Raina was on the ball from the word go and his onslaught during which he hit four boundaries and eight power-packed sixes, left the opposition bolwers bruised and battered after Dolphins opted to field at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Raina was, however, unfortunate to miss out on what would have been a well-deserved century by 10 runs.
Needing a win to keep their semifinal prospects alive, the two-time IPL champions CSK also got valuable support from Brendon McCullum, who hammered 49 off 29 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Ravindra Jadeja blazed his way to an unbeaten 40-run knock off a mere 14 balls, inlcuding 24 off the innings' 17th over bowled by Keshav Maharaj, as CSK finished with a huge total on board following the defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening game.
Raina and McCullum were involved in a 91-run stand for the second wicket, the runs coming in barely 7.3 overs. After McCullum's innings was brought to an end by Khaya Zondo in the ninth over, the left-handed Raina added 65 runs for the third wicket with Faf du Plessis to consolidate the Super Kings' position.
They needed just six overs to score those runs before Raina was dismissed while going for a heave off the bowling of Robbie Frylinck. Raina's first big hit was off Frylinck who was smashed over cover boundary for a six.
That was just the beginning as Raina went on a leatherhunt against the hapless Dolphins bowlers, ensuring that each over produced runs for CSK.
Towards the end, Jadeja played a hurricane knock that included three sixes and as many fours. Jadeja clobbered Maharaj for 24 runs in the 17th over, hitting the bowler for three massive sixes and a boundary to boost CSK's net run rate.
Before that, Craig Alexander was taken for 16 runs with du Plessis doing the bulk of scoring this time around.
However, in his quest to go for one too many, du Plessis was out caught. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was bowled for a first-ball duck.
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