Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed why he is one of the most feared and destructive batsmen in world cricket as he blasted 63 from only 19 balls to steer Chennai Super Kings to an unassailable 202 for 4 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Chennai Super Kings (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Suresh Raina had laid the foundations for a big score with a typically punchy 84 from 57 balls including 9 fours and a six. The left-hander had entered at 0 for 1 after Murali Vijay fell second ball and when he was caught at long-on he had helped boost the score to 175-4 in the 19th over.
Raina was named man of the match, but few can dispute it was Dhoni who stole the show and changed the game. His fifty came off 16 balls, the fastest in CLT20 history. His strike-rate of 331.57, the fastest CLT20 innings ever.
He was simply brutal, putting his strong forearms to good use as he belted 8 sixes, five of which came off Thisali Perera’s 18th over of the innings. He gave up just one dot ball and gave his home crowd in Ronchi every reason to go wild in the aisles. They did!
And although his technique is not classically pretty, his power is all from the shoulder and arms, he is immensely entertaining to watch and a nightmare to bowl at.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It was no way for Perera to celebrate his one-hundredth t20 match. His three overs cost 60 runs, the most expensive ever in the CLT20, and the final one, thanks to MSD, disappeared for 34 of them. It was the most expensive single CLT20 over ever.
In reply, the ever reliable opening partnership of Shikhar Dhawan (48 from 34 balls) and Parthiv Patel (37 off 28) added 87 for the first wicket inside 10 overs, but after Patel was run out after an uncharacteristic misunderstanding and Dhawan edged Ashwin behind further partnerships were few and far between.
Darren Sammy gave it a few of his best shots with 50 from 25 balls, but he edged a Jason Holder yorker onto his foot he slowed to a limp and may now be an injury doubt for the rest of the tournament. His 5 sixes and 2 fours kept Sunrisers in range, but wickets fell to snuff out any hope.
Other than the explosive hitting of Dhoni the Sunrisers were not at full speed in the field, dropping Raina on 10 and allowing the Super Kings to wriggle free when any pressure was applied with the ball.
MS Dhoni said, “We got off to a good start and it was important to build on that. 180-plus was easily chased here so considering that the platform we got from Badri and Raina, I looked to hit and it worked.”
“As you see these days, boundaries are not very big in T20s,” he explained. “It was very entertaining for the people of Ranchi and the support for CSK has been great. Our last game is here and I expect more people to come.
“Our bowlers bowled well but I feel there were situations where we could have closed the overs well, say after giving a boundary in the first few balls,” he added.
“It’s important to bowl dot balls, the side batting second can rotate freely and even if required run rate is 11-12 per over, but with dew around, it is chaseable.”
Defeated captain Shikhar Dhawan, who once again impressed with the bat and with his tactics, said, “I’m enjoying my batting and I’ve been in good form. It was a good challenge under pressure but I want to win more games.
“We’ve got a very strong side, all the players are good fighters and we can trouble any team.” he added. “The positive from this match was that we lost by only 15 runs and we have to stay positive.”
Chennai Super Kings are now top of Group B with two-wins-in-two while the Sunrisers, who came through the Qualifier round in second place, lose their first match of the main event.
Group A
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Pts | Net RR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royals | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.970 |
| Otago | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | +3.100 |
| Mum Indians | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -0.425 |
| Lions | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -1.500 |
| Scorchers | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3.100 |
Group B
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Pts | Net RR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Kings | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.642 |
| Trinidad & T | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +0.438 |
| Sunrisers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.088 |
| Titans | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.180 |
| Brisbane | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.725 |
James Buttler
As the editor of World Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
He is also the presenter of the Cricket Badger Radio Show on Radio Yorkshire every Tuesday evening between 7-9pm UK time.
James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
James is a published author, a writer/video contributor to many cricket publications and a complete cricket badger!
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