Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings - Match 54 - Kingsmead, Durban

Chennai Super Kings kept intact their record of winning all their encounters against Kings XI in IPL by inflicting a 24 run defeat in what was a must win match for Kings XI. Punjab made a mess of their chase and could manage only 92 runs at the end of their quota of 20 overs and ended up 25 runs short of their target of 117. When just a single every ball could have fetched them victory Kings XI batsman applied themselves poorly and some brilliant spin bowling from Murali, Ashwin and Raina dented the the Punjab line up and hence their confidence. Only Pomersbach who made 26 from 32 balls looked dangerous, apart from him the famed Punjab batting line up fell apart and got themselves kicked out of the tournament.

Earlier in the match Chennai could not capitalize on a brilliant platform laid by the opening pair of Parthiv(32 from 23 balls) and Bailey(15 from 12 balls). On a bouncy Durban track Chennai batsman tried to play their strokes and ended up loosing wickets at regular intervals. At the end of 20 overs Chennai could muster only 116 for the loss of 9 wickets, a target which everyone believed could easily be surpassed by Punjab. The jinx that Chennai had never won a match was broken but Punjab must wait till the next IPL to try and break their jinx against Chennai.

Toss
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bat.

Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings - 116/9 in 20 overs(P Patel - 32, S Raina - 20, S Sreesanth - 2/23, I Pathan - 2/32)
Kings XI Punjab - 92/9 in 20 overs(L Pomersbach - 26, I Pathan - 14, M Muralidharan - 2/8, R Ashwin - 2/13)

Result
Chennai Super Kings won by 24 runs

Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkatta Knight Riders - Match 51 - SuperSport Park, Centurion

Kolkatta surprised themselves and the entire cricketing community by beating the Chennai Super Kings at Centurion. Being the first team to be eliminated from the tournament and languishing at the bottom of the table with their own set of controversies, this win would do Kolkatta a world of good in terms of morale and confidence. Chennai who decided to bat first, started off brilliantly with both Pathiv Patel(25 of 19 balls) and George Bailey(30 of 27 balls) making their intentions clear. A double blow in the form of run-outs gave some hope for the Knight Rider bowlers, but they were not successful in denting the Chennai line up further. Raina and Dhoni were carried it on from where Bailey and Parthiv left. Raina made a brilliant 52 from 36 balls before Dinda got rid of him in the 17th over. Dhoni(40 from 28 balls) on the other end stayed unbeaten and he along with Morkel(21 from 10 balls) who for the first time in the tournament looked ominously with the bat propelled Chennai to a score of 188.

A target of 189 according to the standard of batting displayed by Knight Riders so far was a near impossible task and many thought that Kolkatta would proceed to yet another victory. The early wicket of Ganguly seemed to be the first casualty in another heavy defeat, but McCullum and Hodge had other plans in mind. Playing nothing but dignity and no pressure to qualify for the semis, McCullum played a captains knock scoring 81 from 48 balls. McCullum's knock was studded with 11 fours and three sixers. He was brilliantly supported by B Hodge(71* from 44 balls) and they made Chennai bowling look second class. Chennai had a glimmer of hope when they striked with the wickets of McCullum and Hussey, But a cameo from Saha(26* from 13 balls) and Balaji giving 19 runs of the penultimate over sealed the game for the Kinght Riders. As Dhoni summed it "I have never seen a poor bowling performance like this". Its high time Chennai concentrate on their bowling to stand a chance of winning the tournament.

Toss
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bat first.

Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings - 188/3 in 20 overs(S Raina - 52, MS Dhoni - 40*, Dinda - 1/29)
Kolkatta Knight Riders - 189/3 in 20 overs(B McCullum - 81, B Hodge - 71*, M Muralitharan - 1/16, S Jakati - 1/36)

Result
Kolkatta Knight Riders won the match by 7 wickets.

Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumabi Indians - Match 47 - St George's Park, Port Elizabeth

Chennai Super Kings virtually eliminated Mumbai Indians from the second edition of DLF IPL, thanks to a resounding victory powered by Mathew Hayden. Chasing 148 for victory Hayden scored an unbeaten 60 from 57 balls and guided Chennai to a superb victory. Chennai didn't start off well, loosing Parthiv Patel the very first ball to Lasith Malinga. Raina and Badri looked good but were out in their 20s after settling well. But it was Matty Hayden yet again who played the sheet anchor's role in contrat to the Wham Bham innings he had played so far in the previous matches. He along with Dhoni(23* from 22 balls) guided Chennai to a 7 wicket victory with 5 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai Indians who decided to bat first were powered to a total of 147, thanks to crucial knocks played by Jayasuriya, Duminy and Nayar. Jayasuriya helped Mumbai with a solid start scoring 30 from 17 balls. JP Duminy played an anchored the Mumbai innings and he along with Abhishek Nayar led the assault in the final overs. Duminy made 62 from 54 balls and Nayar remained unbeaten on 33 from 27 balls.

Toss
Mumbai Indians won the toss and decided to bat first.

Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians - 147/5 in 20 overs(JP Duminy - 62, A Nayar - 33*, S Raina - 1/22, S Tyagi - 1/29)
Chennai Super Kings - 151/3 in 19.1 overs(M Hayden - 60*, MS Dhoni - 23*, S Malinga - 1/19, D Bravo - 1/19)

Result
Chennai Super Kings won by 7 wickets

Banglore Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings - Match 44 - Kingsmead, Durban

Banglore Royal Challengers clinched a final over victory against the Chennai Super Kings and hence their hopes for a semi-final berth alive. Chasing 130 for victory Banglore started off poorly loosing Kallis(0), Dravid(8) and Uthappa(6) early. But last match's hero Ross Taylor played a completely contrating innings compared to the previous one and helped Banglore to a victory. Taylor anchored the innings and in partnership with Virat Kohli stabilized the banglore innings. Taylor made 46 from 50 balls and Kohli contributed 38 from 35 balls. The match took an intersting turn when wickets started tumbling after the fall of Kohli. A six hit by Praveen of the first ball of penultimate over from Balaji helped ease tension, but the pendulum swung again when Taylor got out the first ball of the final over, with 5 runs to win of 5 balls, Royals held their nerve and reached home with 2 balls to spare.

Earlier in the day, Chennai batsman succumed to the accurate bowling of Kumble and Kallis. Except for Mathew Hayden who scored 60 from 38 balls, none of the Chennai bastmen stayed long enough in the crease. In what can be said as the worst batting performance of the season by Chennai, they managed to put up a below par total of 129loosing all their wickets with two balls to go.

Toss
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bat first

Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings - 129 all out in 19.4 overs(M Hayden - 60, MS Dhoni - 18, A Kumble - 2/12, J Kallis - 2/18)
Banglore Royal Challengers - 132/8 in 19.4 overs(R Taylor - 46, V Kohli - 38, J Oram - 2/12, A Morkel - 2/13)

Result
Banglore Royal Challengers won the match by 2 wickets.

Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals - Match 37 - De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberly

Chennai Super Kings's dream run in the latter part of the IPL continued with yet another victory over the champs Rajasthan Royals. Rajasthan Royals didn't get the start they want as they lost N Ojha in the third ball of the Royal's innings, but Asnodkar and Smith added 53 runs before Murali trapped Asnodkar plum in front of the wickets for a well made 26. Smith(30 of 33 balls) was foxed by a Murali delivery and a smart piece of glovework from Dhoni sent Smith back to the pavillion. The spinners along with Balaji kept a tight leash on the Rajasthan scoring rate. The batsmen tried to increase the run rate only to find themself playing a poor shot and getting out. Ravindra Jadeja(27 of 19 balls) looked dangerous after the strategic break but was removed by Balaji, thanks to a stunner of a catch from Raina. Shane Warne's final assault of 21 from 11 balls helped Rajasthan reach a score of 140, a very defendable target on a pitch which kept low and made stroke play difficult.

Chennai's chase had some initial hiccups with Murali Vijay departing after scoring just 10 runs and Raina depearting after making 13 runs. With the scoreboard reading 37/2, Badrinath joined Hayden at the crease and this partnership took chennai through. Hayden made a solid 48 from 44 balls and Badri compiled a beautiful half century, an effort which earned him the Man of the Match award. Warne got the consolation wicket of Hayden when the Chennai score read 126, but it was too little too late as Badri took Chennai home with 10 balls to spare.

Toss

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and chose to bat first

Brief Scores

Rajasthan Royals - 140/7 in 20 overs(G Smith - 30, R Jadeja - 27, M Muralitharan - 2/22, S Jakati - 2/35)

Chennai Super Kings - 141/3 in 18.2 overs(S Badrinath - 59*, M Hayden - 48, S Trivedi - 1/23, A Singh - 1/25)

Result

Chennai Super Kings won the match by 7 wickets

Deccan Chargers VS Chennai Super Kings - Match 29 - Buffalo Park, East London

Chennai Super Kings are on a roll, winning their third consecutive match, which propels them from seventh spot in the points table a week back to the first spot. Almost everything this match went Chennai's way - Dhoni won the toss, decided to bat and the openers backed his decision by providing a wonderful opening partnership. Hayden blasted 43 from 26 balls, while Vijay made a solid 31 from 33 balls. Once the wickets of openers fell, Raina and Dhoni took over and treated the crowd for their money with some excellent display of strokes. Raina provided the much needed momentum after the strategic time out scoring 32 of just 19 balls, while Dhoni came to form with a brilliant, unbeaten 58 from 37 balls. Some good bowling at the death by RP Singh restricted Chennai to 178 from a posistion where they were looking good for 200.

Chasing 179 for victory Deccan started catastrophically loosing three wickets for just one run on the board. Gilchrist was out leg before the very first ball of the innings from Albie Morkel. In the next over Sudeep Tyagi rattled the wood work of Gibbs and in the third over VVS Laxman flicked one straight to the fielder. With their top three gone for "DUCKS", the lucky Dwyane Smith who was dropped twice of consecutive balls counter - attacked with some mighty blows. Smith along with Sharma brought the scoreboard from 1/3 to 73/3, before Jataki made a double strike removing both Sharma and Smith in the same over. With the return of dangerous Smith to pavillion, the Chennai bowlers ran through the remaining batting line up and the Deccan Chargers ended up loosing all their wickets in 14.4 overs with just 100 runs on the board. Jakati once again bowled brilliantly and returned with the figures of 4/22. Murali will be on a hat-trick the next match and ended up with figures of 2/11. The only worrying factor for Chennai would be their catching. Chennai dropped loads of easy catches that too of consecutive deliveries. If only Chennai could have held on to these catches, the match would have been over much earlier!

TOSS

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bat

BRIEF SCORES

Chennai Super Kings - 178/3 in 20 overs(Dhoni - 58*, Hayden - 43, SM Shohaib - 1/14, T Suman - 1/29)

Deccan Chargers - 100 all out in 14.4 overs(D Smith - 49, R Sharma - 21, S Jataki - 4/22, M Muralitharan - 2/11)

RESULT

Chennai Super Kings won the match by 78 runs.

Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils - Match 26 - New Wanderes Stadium, Johannesburg - Bulletin

Little known Shadab Jakati spun Chennai Super Kings to a memorable victory on a batsman friendly Wanderers pitch. On a pitch which was predicted to produce the first 200+ innings score, Gauti won the toss and decided to field first,and Dhoni was banking on the Hayden - Raina factor to post a competitive score on board. Hayden did start off the Chennai innings with a zing scoring 30 of just 19 balls, but the wickets of Vijay and Hayden in quick succession bought together Badrinath and Raina. These two played brilliantly after the strategic time out and got the run rate near nine runs per over, before Raina was caught in the deep after making 32 of 21 balls. S Badrinath's blinder of an innings came to an end when he lost his sticks trying to improvise on Bhatia's bowling. Once the wicket of Badri was lost, Chennai kept loosing wickets regularly. Morkel and Dhoni, the most dreaded power hitters in the line up failed to live up to their reputation and Chennai lost all the wickets for 163 runs. On the bowling front, the left arm seamers Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes grabbed three wickets each giving away 27 runs.

With the likes of in-form deVillers and Dilshan, Delhi started off their chase on the batsmen friendly Wanders pitch as favourites. It needed some special effort and a few once in a life - time performance from Chennai to score some points in this game. Chennai got exactly what they prayed for, when Raina took a blinder of a catch to dismiss dangerous looking Gambhir and the next ball Sudeep Tyagi got one to nip back a bit and the in - form deVillers had his woodwork disturbed. Jakati was introduced into the attack and he bowled a brilliant delivery which got rid of Dilshan and reduced Delhi to 53/3. David Warner and Dinesh Karthik came to Delhi's rescue and with their brilliant counter - attack left Dhoni hoping for just another miracle. The miracle came when Warner tried to get down the track and score a maximum of Jakati, but the ball spun, beat him and Dhoni completed a neat stumping. David Warner was out for 51 and Chennai heaved a sigh of relief as the dreaded partnership was broken. Manhas tried to hoik Murali over the ropes only to find hear the sound of his sticks getting disturbed. Karthik fell after scoring a brilliant 42 of 31 balls and with this wicket Delhi had lost their chase. Delhi managed to score just 10 runs of the final over in which they required 28, thereby handing over a 18 run, much needed victory to Chennai. This win propels Chennai to the fourth place in the points table and throws the tournament wide open.

Toss:
Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field

Teams:
Chennai Super Kings
M Vijay, M Hayden, S Raina, M S Dhoni, A Morkel, S Badrinath, S Jakati, J Oram, L Balaji, M Muralitharan, S Tyagi
Delhi Daredvils
G Gambhir, V Shewag, T Dilshan, AB de Villiers, M Manhas, D Karthik, D Nannes, D Vettori, A Nehra, A Mishra, P Sangwan

Brief Scores:
Chennai Super Kings - 163 all out in 20 overs(S Badrianth - 45, S Raina - 31, A Nehra - 3/27, D Nannes - 3/27)
Delhi Daredevils - 145/8 in 20 overs(D Karthik - 52, D Warner - 51, S Jakati - 4/24, S Tyagi - 2/18)

Result:
Chennai Super Kings won the match by 18 runs.

Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals - Match 22 - SuperSport Park,
Centurion - Bulletin

Suresh Raina played one of the best innings of this years IPL to give Chennai their second win of the season. His 98 of just 55 balls propelled Chennai to a a formidable 164-5. In reply Rajasthan never looked in the hunt loosing opener their Graham Smith for just 2.

Raina was also a star in the field getting the wicket of Quiney(28) and taking two catches. Rajasthan only managed 126-9 in their 20 overs with Balaji picking up 4 wickets. Yusuf Pathan was once again the bright light for scoring 20 and taking 2 wickets in Rajasthan's 38 run loss.

This win has brought Chennai's campaign back on track, having lost three matches and one washed out. Rajasthan on the other hand have a lot to ponder about. Their batting has not been like we know from last year, their bowling, far from impressive.

Earlier in the day Chennai made a disastrous start with Pathan accounting for Hayden and Patel for 1 and 3 respectively. But this did not deter Raina who reached his half century of just 27 balls. He found valuable support from Badrinath (29) and Dhoni (22) along the way. Raina's innings included 5 sixes and 10 fours and ended when he was caught of the bowling of Munaf Patel.

If this was not enough drama, Raina had just celebrated his first IPL hundred and also became the first Indian to do so. But those celebrations were short lived as it was later found out that he had actually scored only 98. This was a disastrous mistake by the scorers who gave Raina two extra runs. Had Raina know this would he have played a different shot to the one he got out? Maybe, but as they say cricket is a team game and personal feats come second to the teams cause.

Toss
Rajasthan Royals and elected to field first

Teams
Rajasthan Royals
R Quiney,G Smith, S Asnodkar, R Jadeja, Y Pathan, D Mascarenhas, S Warne, M Rawat,
M Patel, S Trivedi, K Khan.

Chennai Superkings
M Hayden, P Patel, S Raina, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni, M Morkel, J Oram, L Balaji,
M Muralitharan, S Tyagi, S Jakati.

Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings 164-5 in 20 overs (S Raina - 98, S Badrinath - 29, Y Pathan - 2/17)
Rajasthan Royals 126-9 in 20 overs (R Jadeja 37, R Quiney 28, L Balaji - 4/21, A Morkel - 2/21)

Result
Chennai Superkings won by 38 runs

THIS POST WAS POSTED BY RUDY

Chennai Super Kings Vs Deccan Chargers - Match 16 - Kingsmead, Durban - Bulletin

Deccan Chargers are on a roll after defeating Chennai Super Kings and making their tally four out of four. The wooden spoon winner have come out all guns blazing in this season of IPL and the results are here to see. Gilchrist and Gibbs were on fire and literally destroyed the Chennai bowling after being set a target of 166 runs. Gilchrist was in punishing mood as he sent the cricket ball flying to all parts of the ground scoring 44 off just 19 balls which included five 4's and three massive sixers. With all his regular bowlers being hit out of the park, Dhoni threw the ball to part-timer Suresh Raina hoping for a magic. And magic did happen with Raina picking up the wickets of Gilchrist and Laxman in successive overs. But the damage was already done. With run-rate at a manageable level and wickets in hand Gibbs guided Deccan to a emphatic six wicket victory.

Earlier in the day Mathew Hayden's 49 and Jacob Oram's 41 helped Chennai reach a respectable score of 165, after being put in by Deccan. But the inability to forge good partnerships and good bowling from Deccan spinners meant that Chennai could never really go into the full throttle mode. Raina and Dhoni made some useful contributions but were out when they started to look good for bigger scores. This season so far for Chennai has been a season of missed opportunities. They have been in winning positions in most of the matches but let the opportunity slip. If Chennai wants to better or atleast repeat their last year's performance, they have to make sure they grab all the opportunities.

Toss
Deccan won the toss and elected to field

Teams
Deccan Chargers
A Gilchrist, H Gibbs, VVS Laxman, R Sharma, Dwyane Smith, Venugopal Rao Rao, A Bilakhia,
P Ojha, RP Singh, SM Shohaib, F Edwards
Chennai Super Kings
P Patel, M Hayden, S Raina, J Oram, M S Dhoni, A Morkel, S Badrinath, J Sharma, L Balaji,
M Muralitharan, M Gony

Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings - 165/6 in 20 overs(Hayden - 49, J Oram - 41*, P Ojha - 2/11,
R Sharma - 1/18)
Deccan Chargers - 169/4 in 19.3 overs(H gibbs - 69*, A Gilchrist - 44, S Raina - 2/18,
M Muralitharan - 1/17)

Result
Deccan Chargers won by 6 wickets

Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkatta Knight Riders - Match 13 - Cape Town, Bulletin

The match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkatta Knight riders got washed out due to rains without a ball being bowled. With the two teams loosing most of their matches a full game would have been interesting, but the rain playing party pooper, the teams shared their points

Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils - Match 9 - Kingsmead, Durban - Bulletin

Chennai Super Kings brilliantly managed to clinch defeat from the jaws of victory in a thriller against Delhi Daredevils. Chasing 190 to win from 20 overs Chennai started off brilliantly with Hayden once again regaining the orange cap with his 27 ball 57. With Raina going great guns at the other end after the dismissal of Hayden in the eight over, Chennai were well poised, needing 83 runs from the last ten overs at a rate of 8.3 per over, during the strategy break. But Chennai lost wickets at regular intervals and lost the plot in the final overs. Albie Morkel who the team depended on heavily couldn't send a ball over the boundary in the final few overs. Flintoff hasn't justified his heavy price tag by once again falling to perform. The likes of Dhoni and Badrinath failing to reach double figure scores and Pradeep Sangwan's brilliant spell getting the wicket of top 3 Chennai batsman contributed cumulatively to Chennai's defeat.

Earlier in the day Delhi started off disastrously loosing both their openers with just 8 runs on the board. The fall of these two wickets brought together AB de villiers and Tilakaratne Dilshan whose aggressive play powered Delhi to a score of 189. de Villiers was unbeaten on 105, the first century in this edition of IPL. de Villiers's century came off just 54 balls and was studded with 5 fours and 6 sixers. de Villiers was well supported by Dilshan who scored a brilliant half century of just 27 balls. Lakshmipathy Balaji with the figures of 3/19 in 4 overs was the star bowler for Chennai Super Kings. With two losses in three games, its time for Chennai to tighten their screws and try to win in order to stay in contention for the semis.

Toss:
Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to Bat

Teams:
Chennai Super Kings
P Patel, M Hayden, S Raina, A Flintoff, M S Dhoni, A Morkel, S Badrinath, J Sharma, L Balaji, M Muralitharan, M Gony
Delhi Daredevils
G Gambhir, V Shewag, T Dilshan, AB de Villiers, M Tiwary, D Karthik, D Nannes, D Vettori, A Nehra, A Salvi, P Sangwan

Brief Scores:
Delhi Daredevils - 189/5 in 20 overs(AB de Villiers - 105*, T Dilshan - 50, L Balaju - 3/19, A Morkel - 1/41)
Chennai Super Kings - 180/9 in 20 overs (M Hayden - 57, Suresh Raina - 41, P Sangwan - 3/28, D Vettori - 2/29)

Result:
Delhi Daredevils won by 9 runs

Chennai Super Kings Vs Banglore Royal Challengers - Match 6 - St.George's Park, Port Elizabeth - Bulletin

The Chennai Super Kings faced a buoyant Banglore Royal Challengers in the sixth match of the DLF IPL 2. Having lost the first match, Chennai Super Kings badly needed a win to kick start their campaign in IPL 2. On the other hand Banglore Royal Challengers were looking to maintain their momentum from the last game. Chennai won the toss and decided to bat first on what looked like a decent wicket to bat on. Hayden and Parthiv Patel started brilliantly sending the Royal Challengers on a leather hunt. Chennai were on a run-feast and the scoreboard read 106/0 at the end of 10 overs when the tactical time out was taken. Pieterson started the eleventh over and got the wicket of Parthiv Patel in the first ball of his spell. The next ball Hayden was run out, thanks to a wrong call from Raina. Raina, Dhoni and Flintoff chipped in and set a target of 180 runs for the Banglore Royal Challengers.

Banglore started disastrously with Praveen Kumar loosing his leg stick to a brilliant ball from Gony. Kallis was looking good before he was trapped leg before wicket by Morkel. Flintoff and Muralitharan were introduced into the attack and Royal Challengers batsmen struggled to get to a two figure score. At the end of 14th over the scoreboard read 78/9 with Dravid stranded at one end and Kumble joining him. Soon Dravid perished trying to hit Balaji out of the park and Banglore Royal Challengers were bundled out for 87 in 15.2 overs. The heros of one day are thrashed on the other day and zeros become heros, and this ladies and gentlemen is T 20 cricket for you.

Toss:
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to Bat

Teams:
Chennai Super Kings
P Patel, M Hayden, S Raina, A Flintoff, M S Dhoni, A Morkel, S Badrinath, J Sharma, L Balaji, M Muralitharan, M Gony
Banglore Royal Challengers
J Kallis, R Uthappa, K Pieterson, R Taylor, R Dravid, V Kohli, R Bishnoi, P Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Dale Steyn, A Kumble

Brief Scores:
Chennai Super Kings - 179/5 in 20 overs (M Hayden - 65, Parthiv Patel - 30, P Kumar - 2/37, K Pieterson - 1/14)
Banglore Royal Challengers - 87 all out in 15.2 overs (J Kallis - 24, Dravid - 20, R Uthappa - 20, M Muralitharan - 3/11, L Balaji - 2/18)

Result:
Chennai Super Kings Won the match by 92 runs.

Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians - Match 1 - Newlands, Cape Town

It was the first match of IPL 2 and was played between the last year runner up, Chennai Super Kings and one of the semi-finalists, Mumbai Indians. Dhoni won the toss and elected to field on a moving wicket. Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya gave a steady start to the Mumbai Indians Innings, before Jayasuriya was caught at midwicket by Hayden off Thushara. Wicket fell at regular intervals with Dhawan, Duminy and Bravo getting out without adding much to the total. Then came A Nayar who played a brilliant cameo, scoring 35 off 14 balls which included three sixers of a Flintoff over. But the star of the innings was none other than master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who scored an unbeaten 59 of 49 balls and stabilized the Mumbai Indians. Hayden must be left cursing himself for letting down a sitter from Sachin at first slip early in his innings. Having to chase a score of 166, the Chennai Super Kings Innings started off disastrously with Parthiv patel getting out without troubling the scorers. Raina was caught brilliantly by Raje off Barvo at 8. Flintoff and Hayden built a mini partnership before Flintoff was caught and bowled by Harbhajan after scoring 24. Hayden fell two over later to the bowling of Jayasuriya and in came Dhoni with the asking run-rate climbing over 11 runs per over. Dhoni's lusty blows were not enough and wickets kept falling at regular intervals. In the end Mumbai Indians won easily by 19 runs and the star bowler being Lasith Malinga who bowled destructively and economically taking three wickets with the economy rate of 3.75 runs per over. Sachin Tendulkar was rightly adjudicated the Man of the Match.

Teams:
Mumbai Indians
S Jayasuriya, S Tendulkar, S Dhawan, JP Duminy, D Bravo, A Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, P Shah, L Malinga, R Raje
Chennai Super Kings
P Patel, M Hayden, S Raina, A Flintoff, MS Dhoni, J Oram, S Badrinath, Joginder Sharma, T Thushara, M Gony, R Ashwin

Toss
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to field.

Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians - 165/7 in 20 overs (Sachin - 59* , A Nayar - 35, M Gony- 2/32, J Sharma - 1/25)
Chennai Super Kings - 146/7 in 20 overs (M Hayden - 44, Dhoni - 36, Malings - 3/15, Jayasuriya - 2/34)

Match Result
Mumbai Indians Won by 19 runs