S. Badrinath's exquisite strokeplay helped Chennai Super Kings register a commanding eight-wicket win over Pune Warriors in their DLF-IPL clash at the D.Y. Patil Stadium here on Wednesday.
This was Super Kings' second straight win against the same opponent, and the fourth in this year's edition. It was also Warriors' fourth consecutive defeat.
Badrinath, walking in at the fall of Michael Hussey's wicket in the fifth over, first targeted left-arm spinner Murali Kartik before taking control of the proceedings.
His unbeaten 63 (44b, 6x4, 2x6) ensured that Super Kings reached its target of 142 in style, losing just two wickets. Super Kings, with eight points, is second behind Mumbai Indians (10) in the points table.
The second wicket pair of Murali Vijay and Badrinath raised 61, rotating the strike and sending the ball to vacant spaces.
Once Vijay fell after lifting Jesse Ryder for a straight six, Badrinath and Suresh Raina completed the formalities.
Badrinath, who has batted only once at the No. 3 position for Super Kings, cashed in on the opportunity when promoted ahead of Raina. The inside-out shot off Yuvraj Singh for six over extra-cover was easily the best stroke of the day.
Rollicking start
Electing to bat, Warriors' Ryder gave a torrid welcome to Nuwan Kulasekara, who replaced the injured Albie Morkel.
In the absence of South African Graeme Smith who is recovering from a hamstring strain, Ryder has stepped in to intimidate the opposition bowlers with some scintillating shots.
After Bollinger kept Mohnish Mishra guessing and outsmarted him, Ryder smashed three boundaries off the second over bowled by Kulasekara: pulling to midwicket, lifting to the straight field and driving over cover. However, the burly Kiwi, in an attempt to score heavily in the Power Play overs, offered a low catch to S. Anirudha at midwicket off Bollinger.
Kulasekara, brought on from the dressing room end, then bowled Mithun Manhas neck and crop. None of the Super Kings fielders, except the bowler, noticed the bails coming off and umpire Asad Rauf had to consult the third umpire before declaring the batsman out.
Manish Pandey made it a mini-procession by spooning New Zealand speedster Tim Southee to R. Ashwin at mid-on.
From a roaring 22 for no loss, Warriors was reduced to 41 for four before Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh got the innings back on track with Uthappa even reverse-hitting left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati. Uthappa also struck Ashwin for two sixes before offering a straightforward chance to short third man off the off-spinner.
The Warriors lower-order rotated the strike, offering more scoring opportunities for Yuvraj. The Warriors captain was clinical in his execution of the big shots as he finished with an unbeaten 62 off 43 balls with three fours and four sixes.
It was Yuvraj's second half-century in six matches which took his side to a respectable 141 which proved inadequate when Badrinath got going.
Sheer magic
Bollinger, who was named man-of-the-match, said Badrinath is “sheer magic. He is simple and sticks to his strengths. He is such a valuable team player for Chennai.”
The Australian seamer, who took three for 21, said the wicket at Chennai was more spinner-friendly and that the D.Y. Patil wicket was good for batting.
“It is important to win and show consistency in order to be in the top four or two. We have seven more matches to go and it's good to be in the position we are now.”
He said that Albie Morkel has a bicep strain of the bowling hand and as a precautionary measure, he was not picked for the match.
Warriors coach Geoff Marsh pointed to the mistakes made by the batsmen. “They are not scoring enough runs for the bowlers to compete and defend. Both Graeme Smith and Tim Paine are injured and we don't have Angelo Mathews and Ashish Nehra,” he said.
Pune Warriors: J. Ryder c Anirudha b Bollinger 19 (12b, 4x4), M. Mishra c Jakati b Bollinger 2 (9b), M. Pandey c Ashwin b Southee 10 (13b, 1x4), M. Manhas b Kulasekara 0 (4b), Yuvraj (not out) 62 (43b, 3x4, 4x6), R. Uthappa c Anirudha b Ashwin 31 (22b, 2x4, 2x6), M. Marsh c Ashwin b Bollinger 11 (15b, 1x4), J. Taylor (not out 1) (2b); Extras (lb-1, w-4): 5; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 141.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-22, 3-28, 4-41, 5-83, 6-123.
Chennai Super Kings bowling: Kulasekara 3-0-26-1, Bollinger 4-1-21-3, Southee 4-0-33-1, Ashwin 4-0-29-1, Jakati 2-0-15-0, Raina 3-0-16-0.
Chennai Super Kings: M. Hussey c Pandey b Kartik 9 (18b, 1x4), M. Vijay c Manhas b Ryder 31 (31b, 1x4, 1x6), S. Badrinath (not out) 63 (44b, 6x4, 2x6), S. Raina (not out) 34 (25b, 1x4, 2x6); Extras (lb-2, w-5, nb-1): 8; Total (for two wkts. in 19.3 overs): 145.
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-80.
Pune Warriors bowling: Thomas 3.3-1-24-0, Taylor 4-0-27-0, Kartik 4-1-27-1, Marsh 1-0-7-0, Rahul 4-0-27-0, Yuvraj 1-0-10-0, Ryder 2-0-21-1.
Man-of-the-match: D. Bollinger.
