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Richard Asher - SuperSport
Chennai - The Chennai Super Kings produced a stirring fightback to win their IPL match against the Deccan Chargers by 19 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadiumi on Sunday evening.
A Man of the Match performance from South African Albie Morkel, who hit some record-breaking sixes and then took 3/38 with the ball, played a big role in a win that at one stage looked unlikely for the home side.
The Chargers looked as though they would coast to their target of 166 when opener Sunny Sohal helped himself to 56 runs in just 30 balls, taking his side to 71/0 in the seventh over.
But the moment Sohal fell, bowled playing an unnecessary reverse sweep to a low full toss from Shadab Jakati, things went downhill for the visitors.
With Sohal's opening partner Shikhar Dhawan barely out of single figures, the innings immediately stalled and the Super Kings forced wickets by building on that pressure.
Chennai captain MS Dhoni made some good bowling changes and put his fielders in all the right places to ensure life got more and more difficult for Deccan, who also contributed to their own downfall with some silly shot selection.
But the chase did ebb and flow, and at 118/3 after 15 overs Deccan would still have been confident with their experienced skipper Kumar Sangakkara at the wicket.
But in the next over Sangakkara was also bowled, having walked across his stumps and missed the ball. That, though, was the result of a tight few deliveries from Doug Bollinger, and when Sangakkara got out the requirement was suddenly 45 off 25 balls, a much bigger ask.
Deccan were by no means out of it, but a great 19th over from Morkel effectively ended their hopes as he got rid of both Cameron White and JP Duminy, and went for just six runs, leaving the new batsmen with too much to do.
It was entirely poetic that Morkel's over swung things decisively, as it was his extreme batting in the corresponding over of the Chennai innings that put the total out of Deccan's reach.
In fact, Morkel's brief knock of 19 runs (off six deliveries) ultimately proved to be exactly the margin of victory for his team!
Morkel's innings featured the two biggest sixes of the tournament, as the South African laid into Ishant Sharma in the 19th over.
The third hit of his hat-trick of sixes landed on the stadium roof, and was measured at a jaw-dropping 114 metres.
Fortunately for the Chargers, Morkel was run out early in the final over, but by that stage the Super Kings had already delivered a good lesson in how to accelerate from a solid foundation.
Opener Mike Hussey's 46 (41 balls) and Suresh Raina's 35-ball knock of 59 were instrumental in laying that foundation, as they shared in a steady 60-run partnership for the second wicket.
The Chargers could have got rid of Hussey when he was on 10, but instead Hussey's Australian countryman Cameron White managed to drop a sitter of a catch at square leg.
Even so, it was fairly sedate start for Chennai, with the score after ten overs only 58/1 as boundaries were hard to come by.
But in the 12th over Hussey and Raina suddenly stepped on the gas, and despite Hussey finally getting caught in the deep by Sharma in the 13th over, the rate kept on climbing.
Morkel only made it to the crease in the 18th over after Raina miscued a slog-sweep and was caught by Shikhar Dhawan, with the score 136/3.
His massive hits at the death, though, helped take Chennai's total to165/5, which turned out to be more than enough.
Teams:
Chennai Super Kings: M Vijay, MEK Hussey, SK Raina, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), S Anirudha, JA Morkel, R Ashwin, DE Bollinger, SB Jakati, S Randiv
Deccan Chargers: S Sohal, S Dhawan, KC Sangakkara (capt & wk), JP Duminy, CL White, DT Christian, B Chipli, A Mishra, PP Ojha, I Sharma, Harmeet Singh
Chennai - The Chennai Super Kings produced a stirring fightback to win their IPL match against the Deccan Chargers by 19 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadiumi on Sunday evening.
A Man of the Match performance from South African Albie Morkel, who hit some record-breaking sixes and then took 3/38 with the ball, played a big role in a win that at one stage looked unlikely for the home side.
The Chargers looked as though they would coast to their target of 166 when opener Sunny Sohal helped himself to 56 runs in just 30 balls, taking his side to 71/0 in the seventh over.
But the moment Sohal fell, bowled playing an unnecessary reverse sweep to a low full toss from Shadab Jakati, things went downhill for the visitors.
With Sohal's opening partner Shikhar Dhawan barely out of single figures, the innings immediately stalled and the Super Kings forced wickets by building on that pressure.
Chennai captain MS Dhoni made some good bowling changes and put his fielders in all the right places to ensure life got more and more difficult for Deccan, who also contributed to their own downfall with some silly shot selection.
But the chase did ebb and flow, and at 118/3 after 15 overs Deccan would still have been confident with their experienced skipper Kumar Sangakkara at the wicket.
But in the next over Sangakkara was also bowled, having walked across his stumps and missed the ball. That, though, was the result of a tight few deliveries from Doug Bollinger, and when Sangakkara got out the requirement was suddenly 45 off 25 balls, a much bigger ask.
Deccan were by no means out of it, but a great 19th over from Morkel effectively ended their hopes as he got rid of both Cameron White and JP Duminy, and went for just six runs, leaving the new batsmen with too much to do.
It was entirely poetic that Morkel's over swung things decisively, as it was his extreme batting in the corresponding over of the Chennai innings that put the total out of Deccan's reach.
In fact, Morkel's brief knock of 19 runs (off six deliveries) ultimately proved to be exactly the margin of victory for his team!
Morkel's innings featured the two biggest sixes of the tournament, as the South African laid into Ishant Sharma in the 19th over.
The third hit of his hat-trick of sixes landed on the stadium roof, and was measured at a jaw-dropping 114 metres.
Fortunately for the Chargers, Morkel was run out early in the final over, but by that stage the Super Kings had already delivered a good lesson in how to accelerate from a solid foundation.
Opener Mike Hussey's 46 (41 balls) and Suresh Raina's 35-ball knock of 59 were instrumental in laying that foundation, as they shared in a steady 60-run partnership for the second wicket.
The Chargers could have got rid of Hussey when he was on 10, but instead Hussey's Australian countryman Cameron White managed to drop a sitter of a catch at square leg.
Even so, it was fairly sedate start for Chennai, with the score after ten overs only 58/1 as boundaries were hard to come by.
But in the 12th over Hussey and Raina suddenly stepped on the gas, and despite Hussey finally getting caught in the deep by Sharma in the 13th over, the rate kept on climbing.
Morkel only made it to the crease in the 18th over after Raina miscued a slog-sweep and was caught by Shikhar Dhawan, with the score 136/3.
His massive hits at the death, though, helped take Chennai's total to165/5, which turned out to be more than enough.
Teams:
Chennai Super Kings: M Vijay, MEK Hussey, SK Raina, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), S Anirudha, JA Morkel, R Ashwin, DE Bollinger, SB Jakati, S Randiv
Deccan Chargers: S Sohal, S Dhawan, KC Sangakkara (capt & wk), JP Duminy, CL White, DT Christian, B Chipli, A Mishra, PP Ojha, I Sharma, Harmeet Singh
