Chennai Super Kings won the key moments to overcome Pune Warriors by 13 runs in a tense match of IPL-V at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday. Pursuing 165, Sourav Ganguly's men finished at 151 for seven. The visitor had opted to field. An outstanding 19th over by left-arm paceman Doug Bollinger he conceded just four runs and had a threatening Steve Smith caught at long-on meant Warriors required 21 off the last over.
Third win Dwayne Bravo, who castled Angelo Mathews with a full toss, then closed all escape routes for the Warriors. CSK celebrated its third win in six games. For CSK, openers Faf du Plessis (58, 48b, 4x4, 2x6) and S. Badrinath (57, 48b, 8x4) built most of the edifice in a 116-run association in 15.3 overs.
The partnership was not high on octane but big on common sense on a surface with carry, movement and turn. Then, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni blasted a 12-ball 28 to provide momentum to the innings in the final stretch. The home crowd roared. The wristy helicopter shot hit straighter streaked past a stunned Ashish Nehra even as the bowler barely completed his follow through. This was Power Play by Dhoni. Pune Warriors stumbled in the chase. Robin Uthappa was deceived by Nuwan Kulasekara's change of pace and R. Ashwin was alert at mid-off. The feature of Jesse Ryder's batting is the shortness of his back-lift. He uses his wrists to generate enormous force. A straight-drive off Kulasekera was blitzed down the ground.
Man-of-the-Match Kulasekera soon had his revenge. Ryder mistimed a pull and Bravo moved forward at deep mid-wicket to pouch a smart catch. There was gloom in the Warriors dugout. Ganguly turned back the pages, pulling and flicking Bollinger past the ropes. Bollinger strayed in his line but another left-armer, Shadab Jakati, altered his length cleverly, to prise out Ganguly even as the batsman charged out. Marlon Samuels promised but Ashwin, deceiving the batsman in the air, had the batsman taken at short cover. CSK made all the right moves.
Earlier, the team-management decided to drop an out-of-form M. Vijay and Badrinath opened with du Plessis. The strong du Plessis, running hot in the competition, did not storm into the bowling this time around. Yet, he did essay some rousing strokes. One particular shot, off leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, caught the eye. He used his feet and not just beat the cover fielder but also the men at wide long-off and sweeper cover. This was quality batting.
Badrinath cut, punched off the back-foot and paddle-swept delicately to collect runs. Once he gained in confidence, the right-hander also sashayed down the track for the lofted shots. His action under the scanner, Samuels collected wickets with his off-spin; both du Plessis and Badrinath trying to accelerate were taken in the deep. Nehra, recovering from the last-over pumelling in Bangalore, operated with verve. The left-arm seamer could have prised out du Plessis on seven had Murali Kartik snaffled up a sharp chance at slip.
There was some turn and bounce for left-arm spinner Kartik. Importantly, he bowled with control. His two overs with the new ball were underlined by precision. Kartik should have consumed Badrinath on 37 but 'keeper Uthappa fluffed a stumping. Pune Warriors' fielding lapses cost the side.
Scoreboard: Chennai Super Kings: F. du Plessis c Mathews b Samuels 58 (48b, 4x4, 2x6), S. Badrinath c Mathews b Samuels 57 (48b, 8x4), S. Raina c Kartik b Nehra 0 (2b), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 28 (12b, 3x4, 1x6), D. Bravo c Mathews b Nehra 12 (8b, 1x6), R. Jadeja c Rahul b Samuels 7 (3b, 1x6); Extras (lb-1, nb-1): 2; Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 164. Fall of wickets: 1-116 (du Plessis), 2-116 (Badrinath), 3-119 (Raina), 4-142 (Bravo), 5-164 (Jadeja).
Pune Warriors bowling: Kartik 4-0-24-0, Nehra 4-0-23-2, Bhuvneshwar 3-0-37-0, Samuels 4-0-39-3, Rahul 4-0-28-0, Mathews 1-0-12-0. Pune Warriors: R. Uthappa c Ashwin b Kulasekara 8 (5b, 2x4), J. Ryder c Bravo b Kulasekara 9 (10b, 2x4), S. Ganguly c Kulasekara b Jakati 24 (26b, 4x4), M. Pandey c Badrinath b Bravo 13 (6b, 1x6), M. Samuels c Kulasekara b Ashwin 26 (24b, 2x4, 1x6), S. Smith c du Plessis b Bollinger 23 (21b), A. Mathews b Bravo 27 (22b, 1x4), Bhuvneshwar (not out) 2 (4b), M. Kartik (not out) 4 (3b); Extras (b-1, lb-6, w-7, nb-1): 15; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 151. Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Uthappa), 2-26 (Ryder), 3-53 (Pandey), 4-64 (Ganguly), 5-97 (Samuels), 6-141 (Smith), 7-144 (Mathews). Chennai Super Kings bowling: Bollinger 3-0-30-1, Kulasekara 2-0-10-2, Ashwin 4-0-35-2, Bravo 4-0-28-2, Jakati 3-0-20-1, Jadeja 4-0-21-0.
