Stylish left-hander scores 50-ball 73 as Chennai beat bangalore by six wickets
Stylish left-hander scores 50-ball 73 as Chennai beat bangalore by six wickets
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Suresh Raina played a heroic innings (73 not out off 50 balls) as he braved severe cramps to help Chennai Super Kings pull off a sensational win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Qualifier One at the Wankhede yesterday.
The last over had everyone on the edge of their seats. Needing 12 off it, Albie Morkel (28 not out) struck one four and a six as defending champions CSK successfully chased down the 176-run target with six wickets in hand to book a berth in the final.
CSK' Suresh Raina slams one en route to his 50-ball 73 against RCB in the
first qualifier of IPL-IV at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. pic/suresh kk
Man of the match Raina and S Badrinath kept the scoreboard ticking after Chennai had a disastrous start. Both openers (Mike Hussey 0 & Murali Vijay 5) were back in the dugout with less than 10 runs on the board. Perfect line and length stuff from RCB pacers Zaheer Khan, Sreenath Aravind and Abhimanyu Mithun ensured Chennai's chase was reduced to snail's pace. They consumed nine overs tou00a0 reach 50. Then, just as Badrinath (34) was looking to free his arms after spending 45 minutes at the crease, his lofted shot found Aravind at
sweeper-cover.
Raina and Badrinath stitched together 63 runs for the third wicket. Raina then beganu00a0 cramping, but continued to be Chennai's batting mainstay. He reached 50 with his trademark shot over midwicket off Zaheer. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined the party thereafter as he too hit Zaheer for a six. He however, fell off the very next ball.
Earlier, Virat Kohli (70 off 44 balls with five fours, three sixes) top scored for RCB after big-hitter Chris Gayle (8) failed to fire.
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