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Bangalore: Chennai Super Kings, inspired by Suresh Raina's furious 90 from 43 balls, eased to a 54-run win over Dolphins on Monday night at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Monday.
In total, CSK smacked 16 sixes and 17 fours to rattle along to a massive total of 242 for 6 - second only to the 246 they scored against Rajasthan Royals in the 2010 IPL. Not surprisingly, it was all too much for Dolphins' hit-and-miss batsmen, though they did give CSK a scare as they sped to the quickest team 50 in CLT20 history.
South Africa's domestic T20 champions did well to get to 115 for 3 by the half-way mark, but the LAST ten overs of their innings was worth 6 for 73.
Earlier, CSK after the Powerplay, 70 for 1. At the halfway mark, 109 for 2. After 20 overs, 242 for 6.
This is hardly what Dolphins captain Morne van Wyk would have hoped for after he put CSK in to bat. Between the first over, in which left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj dismissed Dwayne Smith, and the 20th, which saw pacer Kyle Abbott concede just five singles, CSK looted 228 runs at a rate of 12.66. Of those, 90 came off 43 balls to Raina, whose blistering innings contained eight sixes as he crossed 5000 runs in T20 cricket. And therein was the foundation of CSK's success.
The T20 superstar briefly played second fiddle to Brendon McCullum, who launched a stinging assault on the bowling as he tore into Craig Alexander and Abbott, but once he started to tee off it was bad news for Dolphins.
Faf du Plessis, whose contribution to the stand of 65 with Raina was 11, clattered three fours and a six revive CSK and Ravindra Jadeja smoked 24 off five balls in a partnership of 32 in 11 with Dwayne Bravo (11). Jadeja's 14-ball 40 was part muscle and part placement and lifted CSK to a winning total.
Left with a mountain to climb, Dolphins took 20 off the first over bowled by Ashish Nehra, with left-hander Cameron Delport hitting two fours and a six.
The second over produced 16 for the loss of van Wyk (17 off 7) though the Dolphins captain had reason to feel aggrieved after being given lbw by umpire K Srinath to a ball from R Ashwin that clearly pitched outside leg stump.
Delport's approach of making room and slicing hard yielded a six and three fours off Mohit Sharma, as Dolphins achieved the fastest team 50 in tournament history (15 balls), but the riposte was short-lived. Playing from the crease, Delport missed a slower one from Mohit and was bowled for a nine-ball 34.
Cody Chetty took a liking to Jadeja's left-arm spin and Dolphins finished the Powerplay block on 85 for 2, but too many attempts to hit out meant chances for the fielders.
Maharaj slogged at Mohit and missed and Chetty (38) picked out deep midwicket off Dwayne Bravo, allowing CSK room to breathe. From here, Dolphins lost in a slew of cross-batted hits and frenetic running, bowled out for 188 in 20 overs.
Mohit finished with very credible figures of 4 for 41 after conceding 20 in his first five deliveries.
Earlier, Dolphins have won the toss and have opted to field.
Both teams unchanbged.
Teams
Dolphins: Daryn Smit (wk), Morne van Wyk (Capt.), Cameron Delport, Cody Chetty, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Khaya Zondo, Andile Phehlukwayo, Craig Alexander, Keshav Maharaj, Kyle Abbott, Robert Frylinck
Chennai Super Kings: Ashish Nehra, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ishwar Pandey, Mohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina
Brief scores
Chennai Super Kings - 242/6 (Raina 90, McCullum 49, Jadeja 40*, du Plessis 30, Frylinck 2-52)
Dolphins - 188 (Chetty 38, Delport 34, Sharma 4-41)
Result - Chennai Super Kings won by 54 runs
Points - Chennai Super Kings 4, Dolphins 0
MOM - Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings)
