Dhoni wins battle of captains

Sabi Hussain 

Tribune News Service

Ranchi, May 22

It was a match befitting the stature of Qualifier-2. Chennai Super Kings did everything right while bowling to restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore to a modest 139 for 8. Then, at 61 for 1 after 10 overs, they seemed cruising towards a comfortable win. But twin blows at this stage by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal derailed the chase and it was after several twists and turns that Chennai managed to sneak home for a three-wicket victory in the penultimate ball of the game.

There came a time when Bangalore, too, got a sniff of an improbably win. The potential match-changing moment came when Michael Hussey departed for a well-made 56 off 46 balls in the 17th over, leaving Chennai to get another 32 runs from 19 balls with local boy MS Dhoni at the crease.

It looked anybody’s match at the time but then Dhoni is famous for keeping his cool during such crunch situations. It was no different on Friday and Chennai, as a result, wriggled out of the precarious situation and reached home with just a ball to spare.

It was a night where Bangalore failed to do basic things right after put in to bat by Chennai skipper Dhoni. Kohli failed to provide a solid start to the team, AB de Villiers, too, fell early to Ashish Nehra’s inswinger. Chris Gayle (41) and their middle-order provided some respectability to the score with some fighting contributions, but the total was still below par. For Chennai, Nehra finished with impressive figures of 3 for 28.

Chasing the modest target, Chennai also struggled to get off to a solid start, losing opener Dwayne Smith for 17. Du Plessis and Hussey cleverly mixed caution with aggression to anchor the Chennai innings, but Bangalore bowlers proved up for the task as they did not allow the two to open up their arms.

Pacemen Mitchell Starc, Sreenath Aravind and Harshal Patel kept a tight leash on Chennai's scoring rate as the overs between fourth and eighth yielded just 24 runs.

Du Plessis tried to break free with two fours off David Wiese, but the introduction of leg-spinner Yujvendra Chahal changed the complexion of the game. Chahal, Bangalore's most successful bowler with 23 wickets, sent back du Plessis (21) and Suresh Raina (0) in his single over.

Needing 78 off 60 balls, Hussey was joined in by local boy Dhoni, and both put on a 47-run partnership for the fourth wicket to take Chennai to within striking distance of victory when Hussey fell for 56. Dhoni and Pawan Negi put on a 27-run stand, but both departed in quick succession, leaving Chennai to get one off two balls.

Ashwin hit the winning run on the penultimate ball of the game to earn the ticket to the final against Mumbai Indians in Kolkata on Sunday.

Scoreboard

Royal Challengers

C Gayle c & b Raina 41 

V Kohli c Sharma b Nehra 12 

AB de Villiers lbw b Nehra 1 

Mandeep Singh c Hussey b Ashwin 4 

D Karthik c Sharma b Nehra 28

S Khan c Negi b Bravo 31 

D Wiese c Bravo b Sharma 12 

H Patel run out 2 

M Starc not out 1

S Aravind not out 0

Extras (lb 2, w 5) 7

Total (8 wickets; 20 overs) 139

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-25, 3-36, 4-80, 5-107, 6-125, 7-138, 8-139  

Bowling

A Nehra 4-0-28-3

R Ashwin 4-0-13-1

M Sharma 4-0-22-1

S Raina 3-0-36-1

D Bravo 3-0-21-1

P Negi 1-0-4-0

R Jadeja 1-0-13-0

Chennai Super Kings

D Smith c Starc b Aravind 17 

M Hussey c Patel b Wiese 56 

F du Plessis b Chahal 21

S Raina c Wiese b Chahal 0

MS Dhoni c Karthik b Patel 26 

P Negi run out 12

D Bravo b Starc 0 

R Jadeja not out 0 

R Ashwin not out 1 

Extras (b 3, lb 1, w 3) 7

Total (7 wickets; 19.5 overs) 140 

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-61, 3-61, 4-108, 5-135, 6-135, 7-139 

Bowling 

M Starc 4-0-27-1 

S Aravind 4-0-25-1

H Patel 3.5-0-26-1 

D Wiese 4-0-30-1

Y Chahal 4-0-28-2

MoM: Ashish Nehra