Sydney hit CSK for a six
15 Oct 2012 7:53 AM IST
Sydney Sixers relied on a superb all-round show from Moises Henriques and a couple of stunning catches to thump Chennai Super Kings by 14 runs in their opening Champions League T20 match on Sunday. Henriques smashed five fours and three sixes towards the close of Sydney Sixers' innings for his 23-ball unbeaten 49 to take his side to 185/5 after being sent into bat in the Group B match. He later scalped 3/23 in his three-over spell to play the leading role in his side's victory.
Chasing the big target, CSK were on course till the 16th over as they needed 50 runs from the last four overs before the Sydney side affected two stunning catches to end their innings at 171/9 at New Wanderers Stadium. Suresh Raina, who top-scored with an impressive 33-ball 57 98x4, 2x6], fell in the 17th over to a stunning catch by Steven Smith who held onto a high ball just inches from the boundary ropes.
Captain MS Dhoni was out two balls later as his pull shot was held by Josh Hazlewood who dived forward to take a superb catch. Chennai had two substantial partnership in their run chase, 61 for the second wicket between Faf du Plessis [43] and Michael Hussey [16] and then the 55-run stand for the fourth wicket between Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath [6].
They began slowly in their run chase and were dealt with a blow as Murali Vijay was bowled by Mitchel Starc for just one in the second over. At 3/1, CSK had to settle down for a while but they did not take much time to launch their attack with du Plessis and Hussey finding the boundaries to keep the asking rate under control. Du Plessis punished Starc with a six in the fourth over while Hussey also found a boundary as CSK took 12 runs from that over. Du Plessis then smashed three fours off Pat Cummins in the next over which yielded 13 runs before launching Hazlewood for a six and a four in the seventh over.
It was an even contest till then, but CSK lost two quick wickets in successive overs with du Plessis and Hussey departing in quick succession in the eighth and ninth overs, respectively. CSK were 73/3 at the halfway mark with the asking rate climbing to 11.5 per over and new man Raina had to press the accelerator straightaway. Raina hit a six and a four off O’Keefe and Henriques besides smashing two boundaries off Shane Watson. Chennai needed 61 runs from the last five overs but the dismissals of Raina and Dhoni ended their hopes.
Earlier, Shane Watson scored a quickfire 46 while Henriques used the long handle to great effect during the closing stages to help Sixers post an impressive total of 185/5. Ravichandran Ashwin bowled well to return with figures of 2/32.
BRIEF SCORES: Sydney Sixers: 185 for 5 in 20 overs [Shane Watson 46, Moises Henriques 49 not out, R Ashwin 2/32]; Chennai Super Kings: 171 for 9 in 20 overs [Suresh Raina 57, Faf du Plessis 43, Moises Henriques 3/23, Mitchell Starc 3/31].
Chasing the big target, CSK were on course till the 16th over as they needed 50 runs from the last four overs before the Sydney side affected two stunning catches to end their innings at 171/9 at New Wanderers Stadium. Suresh Raina, who top-scored with an impressive 33-ball 57 98x4, 2x6], fell in the 17th over to a stunning catch by Steven Smith who held onto a high ball just inches from the boundary ropes.
Captain MS Dhoni was out two balls later as his pull shot was held by Josh Hazlewood who dived forward to take a superb catch. Chennai had two substantial partnership in their run chase, 61 for the second wicket between Faf du Plessis [43] and Michael Hussey [16] and then the 55-run stand for the fourth wicket between Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath [6].
They began slowly in their run chase and were dealt with a blow as Murali Vijay was bowled by Mitchel Starc for just one in the second over. At 3/1, CSK had to settle down for a while but they did not take much time to launch their attack with du Plessis and Hussey finding the boundaries to keep the asking rate under control. Du Plessis punished Starc with a six in the fourth over while Hussey also found a boundary as CSK took 12 runs from that over. Du Plessis then smashed three fours off Pat Cummins in the next over which yielded 13 runs before launching Hazlewood for a six and a four in the seventh over.
It was an even contest till then, but CSK lost two quick wickets in successive overs with du Plessis and Hussey departing in quick succession in the eighth and ninth overs, respectively. CSK were 73/3 at the halfway mark with the asking rate climbing to 11.5 per over and new man Raina had to press the accelerator straightaway. Raina hit a six and a four off O’Keefe and Henriques besides smashing two boundaries off Shane Watson. Chennai needed 61 runs from the last five overs but the dismissals of Raina and Dhoni ended their hopes.
Earlier, Shane Watson scored a quickfire 46 while Henriques used the long handle to great effect during the closing stages to help Sixers post an impressive total of 185/5. Ravichandran Ashwin bowled well to return with figures of 2/32.
BRIEF SCORES: Sydney Sixers: 185 for 5 in 20 overs [Shane Watson 46, Moises Henriques 49 not out, R Ashwin 2/32]; Chennai Super Kings: 171 for 9 in 20 overs [Suresh Raina 57, Faf du Plessis 43, Moises Henriques 3/23, Mitchell Starc 3/31].
Next Story
