A 97-run partnership for the fifth wicket between R Sathish(62) and Russel Arnold(49) and an inspired spell of pace bowling by T Kumaran (3 for12) guided Chennai Superstars to an emphatic 56-run win over Delhi Giants in the twelfth match of the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 Championship being played at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium,Hyderabad on Thursday.
Chasing a stiff target of 181 runs in 20 overs, Giants’ were off to a flying start as their openers Awishka Gunawardne and Munish Mishra put on 53 runs in five overs. Mishra was into destructive mood as he first smashed three boundaries and a six off Vignesh’s bowling in the second over and later blasted Ian Harvey for two boundaries in the fourth over. Gunawardne(17) departed after contributing 17 as Sathish took a stunning catch off the bowling of Ian Harvey in the sixth over.
Kumaran pegged Giants hopes back as he picked up two wickets in the next over to make it 64 for 3 for Giants after the end of seventh over. Atapattu (0) fell first as he gave a simple catch to Ian Harvey Mohammed picked up the crucial wicket of Mishra(38) in the next over as Mishra fell trying a sweep shot and giving a simple catch to Sathish at midwicket. Bali and Pothas took the score to 87 before Syed Mohammed picked up the wicket of Bali (19) in the 12th over to further dent Giants’ hopes. Yadav then joined Pothas and he took no time to settle as he first smashed Mohammed for a four and a six in the 14th over and then pulled hit a four off Badani in the next over. But with Giants needing 76 runs off 36 balls, it was hurricane task for the Delhi side. Potahs fell in the 15th over trying to hit Badani over long off as Shabbir Ahmed took the catch. Kumaran picked up his third wicket in the form of Yadav as Yadav (19) gave a simple catch to Arnold in the 16th over with Giants’ scorecard reading 114 for 7.
Harvey picked the eighth wicket of Giants’ innings as Sathish took a fine catch of Sudhinara (3) and when Bond departed on the first ball,it meant that Giants needed 59 runs from 18 balls with one wicket remaining. Harvey picked up the last wicket of Giants’ innings as he snapped up Ali Murtaza in the penultimate over to bundle out Delhi Giants at 124 and thereby handing Superstars a win by 56 runs.
Earlier, Giants skipper’ Marvan Atapattu won the toss and elected to field first. Superstars were off to a bad start as they lost opener Ian Harvey in the second over of the innings. Harvey (9) showed some intent hitting Shane Bond for to consecutive fours in the first over but he was clean bowled by Shalab Srivastava, missing the line of the delivery completely. Russsel Arnold then joined Vignesh and soon came into his stride hitting three boundaries in the span of six balls. Srivastava struck the second blow to Superstars as he removed Vignesh
in the fourth over as Vignesh (8) gave simple catch to Shane Bond at third man. Hemang Badani then stepped on to the crease but he too departed soon as he chipped a simple catch to Abhinav Bali at sweeper position to make it 40 for 3 in 5 overs for Delhi Giants. Arnold and Sathish were then associated in a 97-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Sathish was in dominant mood right from the start as he first smashed Srivastava for two boundaries in the sixth over and then smotted Yadav for two towering sixes in the 12th over. Arnold meanwhile on the other end kept dealing in singles and doubles as Sathish raced to 45 in 31 balls. Both were brilliant in their running between the wickets and with Arnold taking the singles comfortably, it was difficult for the Giants’ fielders to stop the flow of the runs. Arnold stepped up the tempo in the 14th over as he hit Sudhindra for two consecutive fours
and followed it with a slog for a boundary. Finally, it was Ali Murtaza who broke the partnership in the 17th over when he snapped up the wicket of Arnold (49) who gave a simple catch to Srivastava at short third man. Superstars’ score at that time was 137 for 4 in 16.1 over. Bali ended Sathish’s innings (62) in the 18th over as he clean bowled Sathish who missed the line of the ball completely. Michael Bevan then came to the crease and took no time to settle as he hit two boundaries in the next four deliveries. Saravan too joined in by hitting a six off Bond in the penultimate over before Bevan smashed two boundaries in the last over to guide Superstars to 180 for 5 in 20
overs.