East London, May 5 (Inditop) Chennai Super Kings seemed bent upon committing hara-kiri by their atrocious outcricket after setting Deccan Chargers a 179-run target, but their bowlers rescued them to post a 78-run victory in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match here Monday.
Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has termed his own batting in the tournament as pathetic, at last found his touch batting up the order with a 37-ball unbeaten 58. Matthew Hayden contributed 43 in his customary aggressive style.
Chargers got off to a nightmarish start with their three mainline batsmen – Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and V.V.S. Laxman — dismissed without opening their accoount.
Dwayne Smith (49 not out off 23 balls) and Rohit Sharma’s (21) brilliant counterattack, coupled with some terrible fielding, seemingly brought Chargers into the game.
Jakati (4-22) removed both and went on to take two more wickets while Muralitharan took two for 11 to bowl out Chargers in 14.4 overs.
Super Kings recorded their third straight win to jump into the top spot, while Chargers continued to slide from the top to fourth place.
Chargers, who had won four matches in a row, suddenly find themselves in trouble, having slumped to their third defeat.
Electing to bat, Super Kings’ openers gave them an explosive start. Hayden and Murali Vijay (31) hit 61 off 41 deliveries before Suresh Raina (32) and Dhoni stepped up the attack.
Super Kings could not have hoped for a better start, as Albie Morkel trapped Gilchrist in the first ball of the innings before Sudip Tyagi crashed onto the stumps of Gibbs.
Morkel struck again in the third over as wristy Laxman found the fielder at mid-wicket while attempting a flick. Chargers were staring at disaster, losing three wickets for just one run.
What unfolded next was unbelievable as Super Kings’ fielders dropped catches one after another and missed easy run-out chances, giving Smith and Sharma the license to kill.
Smith played some astonishing strokes, plundering five sixes, including one that went over the mid-wicket boundary, with a flick of his wrist.
He was dropped twice in succession and Jakati then fumbled twice to miss the easiest of run-outs when both players were stranded at one side.
But the Goa left-armer, who took four wickets in his second consecutive game, made up for his shoody job with his brilliant bowling as he had Sharma caught by Badrinath and then trapped Smith lbw.
The two dismissals broke the spirit of the Chargers as Jakati and Muralitharan finished them off in a whisker.
rounak