Chennai Super Kings continued to savour the fruits of familiarity after careering to a 19-run win over Deccan Chargers at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday.
The home team posted 165 after electing to bat, thanks to Michael Hussey (46) and Suresh Raina (59), and then held Chargers back from building on the electrifying start provided by opener Sunny Sohal.
Sohal (56, 30b, 6x4, 4x6) hit Doug Bollinger for six and four, before launching into Albie Morkel for a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4 in the third over as Chargers raced to 64 at the end of the mandatory Powerplay of six overs.
Good spell by Jakati
The diminutive opener got out trying to reverse-sweep a Shadab Jakati full toss in the seventh over after dominating a 71-run opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan. Jakati picked up his second wicket when he cleaned up Dhawan (19), and Chargers suffered another blow when Bharat Chipli turned Morkel into the hands of a diving Jakati at midwicket.
Chargers needed 51 runs off the last six overs, with skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Cameron White in the middle. Ashwin gave away just three runs in the 15th, and Bollinger forced his way through Sangakkara's shield with a full delivery that dislodged the middle stump in the 16th, leaving Chargers 44 to win off 25 balls.
White's exit in the penultimate over — Morkel's 50th IPL wicket — practically signalled the end of Chargers' chase. A frantic run gathering effort saw the visiting team lose five wickets for 28 runs in the last five overs as tidy bowling stalled the chase on 146 for eight.
Jakati (two for 23) and Ashwin (none for 23) proved the pick of Chennai's bowlers.
Earlier, Chennai reached 34 in the first six overs for the loss of Murali Vijay (3), who scratched around for 14 deliveries before he was beaten and bowled by Pragyan Ojha's arm ball. ‘Mr. Dependable' Hussey and IPL behemoth Raina took Chennai to 50 in 8.3 overs, bringing up their 50-run partnership in 47 balls.
Chennai's innings revved into action in the 12th over, bowled by Amit Mishra, when both Hussey and Raina smashed boundaries off the leg-spinner. But the next over saw the end of the Australian (46, 41b, 5x4), his pull off Harmeet lobbing into the hands of deep square leg.
On the rampage
Skipper Dhoni got off the mark with a boundary off Harmeet as the last five overs yielded the home team 69 runs. Dhoni and Raina carted sixes off Mishra to bring up the innings' 100 in the 16th over.
Raina reached his half-century in 30 balls and greeted Ojha with a six to begin the 18th over. The southpaw was dropped by Ishant, but was out next ball when his pull was held smartly by Duminy at deep midwicket. Raina and Dhoni added 58 in 5.2 overs.
Morkel came out and expelled whatever restraining orders Chargers would have hoped to impose on Chennai in the slog overs.
The South African all-rounder demolished Ishant's bowling with three consecutive sixes, the last hit travelling an unbelievable 114m right out of the stadium, in the 19th over.
Morkel was run out trying to steal the strike in the final over, but by then Chennai had nudged and hammered its way to a score well above par on a ground that still remains its inviolable preserve.
