Probably none would have guessed this way when the Champions League T20 started – nothing seems to be going right for Dhoni and the Chennai Super Kings also…. With only 5 matches to go – RCB & CSK are at the bottom of the table in their respective groups and there is the possibility of none of 4 Indian teams featuring in the Semis.
At Chepauk, it was a low scoring match and Trinidad & Tobago struggled to put bat to ball – they ended up setting up a small target of 124 eminently gettable for the line-up that CSK boasted of.
T&T batted slowly that one wondered whether it was a T20 at all. In the end a little known Kevon Cooper played a cameo of 28 off just 10 balls. T&T openers put on only 52 in 9.3 overs despite desperate attempts to hit boundaries perhaps due to the nature of the pitch as it was revealed later to be. William Perkins, the new opener managed to hit 2 sixes. Wickets fell – one of them due to a smart fielding by Wriddhiman Saha – spinners Ashwin and Jakati strangled them. In the end there was some lusty hitting and innovative shots by Cooper which ensured that target.
The score card of CSK and the FOW would display fairly the poor picture :
Fall of wickets : 1-21 (Vijay, 2.5 ov), 2-25 (Raina, 4.3 ov), 3-27 (Hussey, 5.6 ov), 4-48 (Saha, 9.6 ov),5-52 (Badrinath, 11.5 ov), 6-75 (Dhoni, 16.3 ov)
Murali Vijay slogged making a mere 6. Raina followed sooner; Hussey patiently made 13; Saha got out soon; Badri hung around scratching 14 off 26 balls; Dhoni made 7 off 22. In the end chasing 124, and after playing the full 20 overs losing only 6 wickets, CSK ended 11 short still !!
It was a great display of off spin bowling by Naraine and the choking of CSK. T&T has been making small scores and losing in tight finishes but this was a day, with a relatively better score they romped home. Morkel hit two sixes off the last two balls, which only reduced the difference of a result which was already settled by then. Now T&T stays alive and CSK is hanging… Sunil Narine's figures of 4-0-8-3 deserves great appreciation.
Theory has it that the only way to successfully defend low totals is to attack and bowl the opposition OUT – yesterday it was different as at their own backyard, CSK were restricted to not making 124 off 120 legitimate deliveries.
Here is the table as things stand of date :
Group A | ||||||||
Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | N/R | Pts | Net RR | For | Against |
Mumbai Indians | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -0.28 | 358/59.5 | 357/57.0 |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.038 | 375/57.0 | 375/57.2 | |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.443 | 281/37.2 | 281/39.4 | |
Trinidad & Tobago | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.183 | 360/60.0 | 349/60.0 |
Chennai Super Kings | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -0.181 | 415/59.4 | 427/59.5 |
Group B | ||||||||
Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | N/R | Pts | Net RR | For | Against |
Warriors | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.592 | 405/49.0 | 376/49.0 |
Kolkata Knight Riders | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0.306 | 584/66.3 | 582/68.4 |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.289 | 164/19.4 | 161/20.0 | |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -0.775 | 309/40.0 | 340/40.0 | |
Royal Challengers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -0.648 | 341/40.0 | 344/37.3 |
With regards – S. Sampathkumar .
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