Raina was named Man of the Match for his sensational knock of 90
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Chennai Super Kings batsman Suresh Raina smashed a scintillating 90 to help his side demolish the Sunfoil Dolphins by 54 runs in Bangalore.
Raina was brilliantly supported by opener Brendon McCullum, who hammered 49 runs, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who walloped 40 runs.
Dolphins captain Morne van Wyk would have been pleased with his decision to bowl first after Chennai opening batsman Dwayne Smith was caught by Khaya Zondo at mid-off off the bowling of Keshav Maharaj for seven runs.
McCullum and Raina made up for the early loss of Smith with a 91-run partnership before McCullum fell one agonising run short of his half-century when he was caught by Daryn Smit at deep midwicket off the bowling of Zondo.
McCullum’s brilliant knock of 49 came off 29 balls and included five boundaries and three sixes.
McCullum clubbed five boundaries and three sixes during his innings of 49
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Raina and South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis kept the runs flowing with a 65-run partnership, during which Raina brought up his half-century, before he was caught by Cameron Delport at point off the bowling of Robbie Frylinck.
Raina’s superb innings of 90 came off 43 deliveries and included four boundaries and an incredible eight sixes.
Frylinck struck again just four balls later when he clean bowled Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a golden duck.
Du Plessis went on to score 30 runs before he was caught by Vaughan van Jaarsveld at long-on off the bowling of Craig Alexander.
West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo made 11 runs before he was also caught by van Jaarsveld at long-on, but only off the bowling of Kyle Abbott.
Thanks to Jadeja’s unbeaten knock of 40 off just 14 balls, which included three boundaries and three sixes, Chennai finished on an exceptional 242/6 off their 20 overs.
Jadeja only took 14 balls to score 40 runs
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Frylinck was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Maharaj, Abbott, Alexander and Zondo chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing a mammoth 243 runs to win, the Dolphins got off to a poor start as van Wyk was given out lbw off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin for 17 runs.
Delport smashed a quickfire 34 before he was clean bowled by Mohit Sharma.
Maharaj only made eight runs before he was also cleaned up by Sharma.
Cody Chetty was the top run-scorer with 38, which came off 28 balls and included three boundaries and two sixes, before he was caught by Sharma at deep square leg off the bowling of Bravo.
Van Jaarsveld managed to make 30 runs before he was caught by Smith at long-on off the bowling of Bravo.
Smit failed to trouble the scorers as he was run out by Dhoni for a duck.
Zondo mustered nine runs before he was caught by Raina at long-off off the bowling of Ashish Nehra.
Frylinck fared no better as he had his stumps shattered by Nehra for six runs.
Abbott scored five runs before he was clean bowled by Sharma.
The Dolphins were bowled out for 188 when Andile Phehlukwayo was cleaned up to become Sharma’s fourth victim of the match.
Despite leaking a lot of runs, Sharma was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Nehra and Bravo snapped up two wickets each and Ashwin claimed one.
Dhoni was pleased to have won the match, and said: “We batted really well, the wicket remained quite the same, credit to Raina and McCullum for a great start, it was important to utilize all our resources so we went really hard. With our bowling struggling slightly it was important to get those 15-20 extra runs, even if we go down trying to get those runs. [Speaking about the bowling] if you want to win tournaments, you have to come up with better performances, our batsmen won’t score 240 every time.”
Raina was named Man of the Match, and said: “When you have Smith and Baz, if there’s a good start then you can play positively. It’s a good start for us, and we’re looking forward to carrying on from here.”