Defending champion Chennai Super Kings put behind it its disastrous opening match to post an emphatic 74-run win over Deccan Chargers in the DFL-Indian Premier League match at the ACA-VDCA stadium here on Saturday.
Ravindra Jadeja followed up a breezy 48 with a five-wicket haul to be declared Man-of-the-match. His allround brilliance was complemented by a blistering knock by Dwayne Bravo that saw Super Kings posting 193, the highest total so far in the fifth edition of the IPL.
Deccan Chargers' hopes of beginning its campaign with a win was rocked when it conceded the huge total after having Super Kings' total in manageable proportions.
The chase began briskly enough, but the openers left before the 50-run mark.
From thereon Jadeja had Chargers at his mercy.
Parthiv Patel was bowled all ends up, then captain Cameron White, who was trying to steer the team around, was caught at the fence off Shadab Jakati. When Jadeja bowled Bharat Chipli, half of the side had departed with 94 on the board.
Earlier, Super Kings paced their innings well after being invited to bat.
Faf du Plessis gave the early momentum with his 39 off 25 balls. A four off Manpreet Gony followed by two sixes over deep mid-wicket and into the stands behind long-off shattered the pacer's confidence.
The scoreboard kept ticking even as Suresh Raina fell to Daniel Christian. Du Plessis left trying to repeat one of his huge hits into the stands.
Then it was Jadeja's turn to get the runs at a fast clip. Two sixes in an Ankit over and two fours off Christian showed the young all-rounder's mettle. He had made 48 off 29 balls when, while attempting to pull, he backed up too much and trod on his stumps.
Then came Bravo's bludgeoning effort that saw five huge sixes, T.P. Sudhindra and Gony getting the treatment.
PTIadds:
Back on the winning track after defeating Deccan Chargers in its Indian Premier League match here on Saturday, defending champion Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that his side was a bit “rusty” in its tournament opener against Mumbai Indians.
After losing its opening game against Mumbai by eight wickets, Chennai returned to winning ways, comfortably beating Deccan Chargers by 74 runs.
“It's always good to be on the winning side. We were a bit rusty in the first match, but the boys executed the plans well today to put up a big score,” said Dhoni at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Asked about what was a good score on this wicket, Dhoni said, “We were looking something around 150-160 to defend. We were not sure about the dew factor, but we still managed to get 190,” he said.
Chargers skipper Cameron White praised Chennai's Ravindra Jadeja for his all-round performance.
Scoreboard:
Chennai Super Kings: M. Vijay b Ankit 2 (5b), F. du Plessis c Christian b Sudhindra 39 (25b, 1x4, 4x6), S. Raina c & b Christian 16 (12b, 3x4), S. Badrinath c Chipli b Christian 25 (20b, 3x4), R. Jadeja hit wkt b Steyn 48 (29b, 3x4, 3x6), M.S. Dhoni c Harris b Steyn 7 (9b), Dwayne Bravo (not out) 43 (18b, 5x6), A. Morkel (not out) 2 (3b); Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-7, nb-1): 11; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 193.
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Vijay), 2-42 (Raina), 3-63 (du Plessis), 4-94 (Badrinath), 5-120 (Dhoni), 6-147 (Jadeja).
Deccan Chargers bowling: Ankit 3-0-28-1, Steyn 4-0-25-2, Gony 4-0-54-0, Christian 4-0-26-2, Harris 1-0-11-0, Sudhindra 4-0-46-1.
Deccan Chargers: D. Harris c Dhoni b Bollinger 15 (14b, 3x4), S. Dhawan c Bravo b Raina 21 (18b, 3x4), Parthiv b Jadeja 20 (17b, 3x4), C. White c Raina b Jakati 23 (16b, 2x4, 1x6), B. Chipli b Jadeja 10 (9b, 1x6), D. Christian c Bravo b Jakati 2 (3b), M. Gony c Raina b Jadeja 4 (8b), Ravi Teja st. Dhoni b Jadeja 0 (2b), Ankit c Morkel b Bollinger 15 (8b, 2x6), D. Steyn lbw Jadeja 5 (8b), T.P. Sudhindra (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (lb-1, w-3): 4; Total (in 17.1 overs): 119.
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Harris), 2-45 (Dhawan), 3-77 (Parthiv), 4-85 (White), 5-94 (Chipli), 6-98 (Christian), 7-99 (Gony), 8-99 (Ravi Teja), 9-119 (Steyn).
Chennai Super Kings bowling: Ashwin 3-0-12-0, Morkel 2-0-20-0, Bollinger 2.1-0-20-2, Raina 2-0-10-1, Bravo 1-0-10-0, Jadeja 4-0-16-5, Jakati 2-0-14-2, du Plessis 1-0-16-0.
Man-of-the-match: Jadeja.
