Centurion, May 8 (Inditop) Chennai Super Kings won their fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) match on the trot Thursday, beating Kings XI Punjab by 12 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis Method in a nail-biting finish at the Centurion Park here.
It was an all-round performance by the Super Kings that spiralled them to the top of the points table while Kings XI remained at the sixth spot in the eight-team league.
Kings XI needed 30 runs off the last two overs. But Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni surprised everyone by asking Suresh Raina to bowl the penultimate over of the rain-affected match that had been reduced to 18 overs.
The trick worked as Raina, with his gentle off-spin, didn’t allow Super Kings captain Yuvraj Singh to open his arms and gave away just six runs. Laksmipathy Balaji then bowled a decent last over as Super Kings romped home to a win.
Both Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab also continued with their poor fielding skills.
Opting to bat first, Super Kings made a challenging 185 for three in 18 overs with opener Mattew Hayden making a valuable 89 and Dhoni scoring an unbeaten 56. In reply, , Yuvraj (58) and Simon Katich (50) played some good shots but this was not enough to take Kings XI past the huge total.
Deciding to bat first on a pitch that provided some assistance to the fast bowlers appeared to backfire after opener Subramanian Badrinath was dismissed off Irfan Pathan’s first ball of the match.
But it was the 75-run second wicket stand between Hayden and Suresh Raina (32) that got the Super Kings back on track. Hayden was in a murderous mood and spanked the wayward Kings XI bowlers for eight fours and six sixes.
Hayden and Dhoni, who hit seven fours and two sixes, then played some big shots as Super Kings posted a formidable target.
Kings XI made a faulty start as Albie Morkel dismissed Sunny Sohel off the second ball of the innings before Katich and Yuvraj took Kings XI to within sniffing distance of a win but ended up on the loser’s side.
rounak