DIAL 464626 FOR SUCCESS
Updated after KXIP vs PW match After the mayhem, the giant screen flashed: ‘ Carnage at Chidambaram’. It was, indeed, a slaughter of epic proportions. How else can one describe 413 runs belted in 40 overs? Chennai Super Kings continued their winning streak against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MAC with a nail- biting fivewicket victory on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth 206 to win, Super Kings pulled off a coup reaching the target in the final delivery. With two runs needed of the last ball, Ravindra Jadeja edged Vinay Kumar to the third man fence to trigger wild celebrations in the stands.
When all seemed lost for the hosts, Albie Morkel walked in to turn the match on its head with a rapid fire 28. Coming in at the fall M. S. Dhoni, the South African and his partner Dwayne Bravo had an improbable task at hand but all hell broke loose in the penultimate over. The lefthanded Morkel destroyed Virat Kohli where he smashed this amazing sequence: 464626. With 15 required off the final over, Bravo cracked a boundary and a six in the next. Jadeja, who replaced Morkel, held his nerve even as the job was almost done.
For Super Kings, it was always going to be a tall order with 75 needed off the last five overs. But Dhoni ( 41, 24b, 1x4, 2x6) and opener Fa du Plessis kept their team in the hunt with some lusty hits. Super Kings started the chase in right earnest knocking 62 during power- play. Plessis was merciless on anything that was pitched short. The South African took Raju Bhatkal to the cleaners with a 20- run salvo in the sixth over. However veteran Muttiah Muralitharan broke the opening stand in the very next over when he sent Vijay packing with a superlative return catch.
At the halfway mark, Super Kings required a further 121 to cross the line. Suresh Raina, while looking for quick runs, holed out in the deep to give Murali his second. But the wily old fox wasn’t finished yet. He came back to bag the prized wicket of Plessis. The Sri Lankan finished with impressive figures of 4- 0- 213.
Meanwhile, a day after Chennai evaded a possible Tsunami attack; they were confronted by another familiar bout of violence in the form a Gayle torpedo. The West Indies left- hander battered and bruised Super Kings with a whirlwind 68 ( 35b, 2x4, 6x6). Gayle was in the zone. One of the sixes he hit of Bravo was measured at 103 meters, which went out of the stadium. Mayank Agarwal and Kohli also contributed handsomely but it just wasn’t enough on the day.
For CSK, it was going to be a tall order with 75 needed off the last five overs. But Dhoni and opener du Plessis kept their team in the hunt.