Bangalore: Suresh Raina today blazed his way to a 43-ball 90 and powered Chennai Super Kings to a comfortable 54-run win over Dolphins, keeping the Indian outfit’s semifinal prospects alive in the Oppo Champions League Twenty20 here.
The Super Kings notched up an imposing 242 for six and then saw off Dolphins’ early onslaught to bowl them out for 188 in 20 overs.Chasing a stiff target, Dolphins were cruising at 56 for two by the end of third over and had crossed hundred by the end of ninth. But the South African side could not sustain the tempo and lost its way after the initial promise.
Earlier, Raina was on the ball from the word go and his onslaught during which he hit four boundaries and eight power-packed sixes, left the opposition blowers bruised and battered after Dolphins opted to field at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Mohit Sharma was CSK’s most successful bowler with impressive figures of four for 41. Needing a win to keep their semifinal prospects alive, Brendon McCullum, who hammered 49 off 29 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Raina and McCullum were involved in a 91-run stand for the second wicket, the runs coming in barely 7.3 overs. CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni though was bowled for a first-ball duck.
Dolphins bowlers, ensuring that each over produced runs for CSK. Jadeja played a hurricane knock that included three sixes and as many fours.Jadeja clobbered Maharaj for 24 runs in the 17th over, hitting the bowler for three massive sixes and a boundary to boost CSK’s net run rate.Before that, Craig Alexander was taken for 16 runs with du Plessis doing the bulk of scoring this time around, du Plessis was caught.out(pti)