A second-wicket partnership of 137 between Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina helped Chennai Super Kings reach the 200-run mark for the first time in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament and crush Wayamba Elevens by 97 runs here on Wednesday. Chasing 201, Wayamba was bowled out for 103.
With the ball coming onto his bat with minimal deviation and short boundaries all around him, Murali Vijay earned full value for the crisp timing he displayed from the start of the Chennai innings. The opener struck a six and three fours in the fifth over, bowled by left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara, and was seeing the ball so well by then that he drilled a perfectly pitched middle-stump yorker to the square-leg fence.
His partner Matthew Hayden was lbw attempting to sweep Ajantha Mendis in the next over, but Vijay carried on attacking the Wayamba bowling in the company of Suresh Raina. The score read 92 for one after ten overs, and 135 for one at the end of 15.
Murderous strokes
By this time, both had crossed 50, and Raina was beginning to show off the most murderous strokes in his southpaw repertoire, chief among them the heave over midwicket. Four monster sixes in one Mendis over, the 17th of the innings, and two doubles in between, sent him hurtling from 59 to 87.
Raina fell at that score, finding the leaping Jehan Mubarak at cover with an underhit lofted drive off Welegedara. Vijay holed out off the next delivery, but the left-handed Albie Morkel averted the hat-trick with a powerful drive that beat long off running frantically to his right.
Morkel and skipper M.S. Dhoni only managed 14 off the last two overs, but the Vijay-Raina partnership had done enough before them to leave Wayamba staring at a target of 201.
Wayamba never looked in contention, and at one stage looked in danger of falling short of 50.
Early blow
Jeevantha Kulatunga went first ball, mistiming a pull off medium pacer Albie Morkel straight to square leg. Skipper Jehan Mubarak followed him in Morkel's next over, edging one to the keeper.
Mahela Jayawardene was next to go, looking to harness Doug Bollinger's pace and left-arm-over angle with an uppercut but succeeding only in finding Muttiah Muralitharan at third man.
The next over saw Murali taking another catch, at mid off this time to send back the left-handed Kushal Perera, fending Morkel hesitantly and managing only a leading edge. All four wickets came from short balls, and all, apart from Jayawardene, were the result of discomfort against the bounce afforded by the Centurion wicket.
Off-spinner R. Ashwin then came on and bowled Kaushal Lokuarachchi and Thisara Perera in his first over, both batsmen attempting ugly, across-the-line heaves. Shalika Karunanayake and Isuru Udana put on 27 for the seventh wicket before the latter fell to another short ball, gloving a pull off Balaji to Dhoni behind the stumps.
The end was delayed just long enough for Wayamba to cross 100. Morkel ended with figures of three for 22, and Ashwin, displaying all his variety – off break, drifter, carrom ball, picked up two more wickets to finish with four.
The scores: Chennai Super Kings: M. Vijay c Perera b Welegedara 68 (46b, 9x4, 1x6), M. Hayden lbw b Mendis 10 (18b, 1x4), S. Raina c Mubarak b Welegedara 87 (44b, 6x4, 6x6), A. Morkel (not out) 9 (5b, 1x4), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 10 (9b, 1x4); Extras (b-2, lb-6, w-6, nb-2) 16. Total (for three wickets in 20 overs) 200.
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-180, 3-180.
Wayamba bowling: Udana 4-0-30-0, Mendis 4-0-45-1, Welegedara 4-0-47-2, Karunanayake 3-0-24-0, T. Perera 2-0-25-0, Herath 3-0-21-0.
Wayamba Elevens: M. Jayawardene c Muralitharan b Bollinger 10 (7b, 2x4), J. Kulatunga c Anirudha b Morkel 0 (1b), J. Mubarak c Dhoni b Morkel 7 (8b, 1x4), K. Perera c Muralitharan b Morkel 7 (10b, 1x4), K. Lokuarachchi b Ashwin 6 (4b, 1x4), S. Karunanayake (not out) 25 (30b, 1x4, 1x6), T. Perera b Ashwin 4 (5b, 1x4), I. Udana c Dhoni b Balaji 13 (16b, 2x4), R. Herath c Muralitharan b Ashwin 4 (6b), A. Mendis st Dhoni b Ashwin 15 (13b, 2x4, 1x6), C. Welegedara (not out) 0 (3b); Extras (b-4, w-7, nb-1) 12. Total (in 17.1 overs) 103.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-18, 3-18, 4-31, 5-31, 6-35, 7-62, 8-76, 9-102.
Chennai bowling: Morkel 3-0-22-3, Bollinger 4-0-15-1, Ashwin 4-0-18-4, Balaji 3-0-17-1, Muralitharan 3.1-0-27-1.
