Lahore outplay Dolphins, keep hopes alive
Bangalore: A disciplined Chennai Super Kings tonight produced an all-round effort to defeat Perth Scorchers by 13 runs and brighten their hopes of earning a semifinal berth in the Oppo Champions League Twenty20, here on Saturday.
Invited to bat, the Super Kings rode on Ravindra Jadeja’s 28-ball unbeaten 44 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 16-ball 35 to post a challenging 155 for six.
Ravichandran Ashwin then shone with the ball, returning impressive figures of 3/20 to restrict the Scorchers to 142 for seven in 20 overs.
That the CSK got enough to defend was mainly due to the brisk 64-run sixth-wicket partnership, which came off just 30 balls, between Jadeja and Dhoni. This after the Scorchers spinners, led by Brad Hogg, had stifled the two-time IPL winners at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Dhoni hit four sixes while Jadeja found the fence four times and cleared it twice.
When their turn to bat came, the Scorchers lost Craig Simmons and Ashton Agar with 26 runs on the board. While Simmons was foxed by Ashish Nehra’s slower ball, Agar had no answer to a quicker one from Ashwin.
Captain Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh put up a brief resistance before the latter was castled by off-spinner Ashwin. Sam Whiteman did not last long while Voges too fell after making 27 off 24 balls.
Dhoni made his intentions clear as he lofted Arafat’s full toss over deep midwicket for a six. Jadeja got into the act, hitting Hogg over long-off for a maximum and accumulating 13 runs off the 18th over. In the end, the final two overs proved to be the most productive for CSK.
The Australian outfit is more or less out of contention.
Meanwhile, Pakistan champions Lahore Lions registered their first win in the Oppo CLT20 main draw as they outplayed Dolphins of S Africa by 16 runs to keep their hopes of booking a semi-final spot alive, here on Saturday.
Electing to bat, Lahore, who now have six points with a win and rained-off game, lost early wickets but Saad Nasim (43) and Umar Akmal (73 not out) stitched a 92-run fifth-wicket partnership to help the side post 164 for five in 20 overs.
Chasing 165 for victory, a winless Dolphins, who are now out of the tournament, managed 148 for nine in their stipulated overs as Robbie Frylinck’s unbeaten 63 run effort went in vain.
But wicketkeeper-batsman Umar it was, who won the Man of the Match award for his valiant knock after Lahore lost their top-four batsman for just 34 runs.
Reigning IPL champions KKR have already made it to the semifinals from this group.(PTI )