Chennai Super Kings clinched a hat-trick of wins and a berth in the semifinals of the Champions League T20 tournament, hammering a hapless Brisbane Heat by eight wickets in a Group B match here on Saturday.
Chasing a modest 138, the 2010 champions romped home with 25 balls in hand, thanks to an unbeaten half-century by Man-of-the-Match Michael Hussey and his 75-run partnership with M Vijay, who ended his double-duck run with a 27-ball 42. Vijay hit five fours and two sixes in his innings.
After the departure of Vijay, Suresh Raina hit a 15-ball 23 before being trapped in front by Dan Christian. But Mr Consistent Hussey guided the team to an easy win,which was capped by no other than skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Much to the delight of a 30,000-strong crowd, Dhoni, who had hit a 19-ball unbeaten 63 with eight sixes in the previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, hammered Ben Cutting for a four and a six in the 16th over to put CSK on top of the table with 12 points from three matches.
Earlier, a fine rearguard act by Cutting and wicketkeeper Chris Hartley helped Brisbane Heat reach 137 for seven. Put into bat, the Aussie outfit were in dire straits, losing six wickets for 66 runs. But Cutting and Hartley rescued them, stitching together 71 for the seventh wicket in 7.3 overs. The former captialised on a dropped catch − on six by Jason Holder off Dwayne Bravo in the 18th over − to crack a blistering unbeaten 42 (25b, 5x6). Cutting cut loose from the word go, smashing Bravo for two sixes in the over he was dropped.
The last three overs produced 50 runs, which included 21 in the 20th. Cutting hoisted Jason Holder for a six, while Hartley hit a boundary. The duo capped the innings on rollicking note with the former thrashing Mohit Sharma for two sixes in successive balls, while Hartley fired two fours before being dismissed by the last delivery of the innings.
Among other batsmen, Chris Lynn and captain James Hopes got starts but could not last long. After some ordinary performances in the first two outings, Super Kings’ formidable spin combination of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja showed their mettle, combining to claim three wickets for reasonable 28 runs.
The duo’s eight overs put the opposition under tremendous pressure as the scoring rate reduced alarmingly. So much so that not a single boundary could be hit for a full 11 overs, from the seventh to 17th.
Jadeja put Super Kings in the driver’s seat, dismissing Christian and Joe Burns in his first over. Among the pacers, Mohit picked up a brace, but was a tad expensive, giving away 35 runs in three overs.
SCOREBOARD: Brisbane Heat: J Hopes c Holder b Morkel 20, D Michael c Badrinath b Sharma 0, C Lynn c Jadeja b Ashwin 29, D Christian c Hussey b Jadeja 3, J Burns c Raina b Jadeja 0, C Hartley c Holder b Sharma 35, C Sabburg b Raina 2, B Cutting not out 42. Extras (lb 4, w 2) 6. Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 137.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-29, 3-54, 4-55, 5-61, 6-66, 7-137.
Bowling: Sharma 3-0-35-2, Morkel 2-0-15-1, Holder
2-0-26-0, Ashwin 4-1-10-1, Jadeja 4-0-18-2, Raina 3-0-9-1, Bravo 2-0-20-0.
Chennai Super Kings: M Hussey not out 57, M Vijay c Burns b Cutting 42, S Raina lbw Christian 23, MS Dhoni not out 13. Extras (lb 2, w 3) 5. Total (for 2 wkts, 15.5 overs) 140.
Fall of wickets: 1-75, 2-116.
Bowling: Hopes 1-0-7-0, Gale 2-0-22-0, Gannon 3-0-19-0, Christian 3-0-16-1, Hauritz 3-0-36-0, Cutting 3.5-0-38-1.