Report: Qualifier 2 – CSK v DD

Vijay ton helps Chennai Super Kings set up IPL 2012 final clash with Kolkata Knight Riders

Murali Vijay powered the Chennai Super Kings to their third successive IPL final with a sparkling century that helped the defending champions beat the Delhi Daredevils at Chepauk. After Vijay’s 113 (58 balls; 15x4, 4x6) took CSK to a towering score of 222, the bowlers, led by R Ashwin (three for 23), inflicted an 86-run defeat on the Daredevils.

Earlier, DD surprised everyone by opting to play debutant off-spinner Sunny Gupta in place of Purple Cap-holder, Morne Morkel. With Irfan Pathan also nursing a hand injury, the Daredevils opted to play all-rounder Andre Russell instead. CSK, on the other hand, played the same XI that triumphed against the Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru. 

Soon, these changes made by the Daredevils backfired completely as the Super Kings openers set off at a brisk pace. Vijay led the assault from the very beginning as he hit Gupta for a couple of fours in the very first over and then went on to do the same to Varun Aaron to bring up CSK’s 50 at the end of the sixth over. 

Michael Hussey, who led CSK’s resurgence against MI, hit a steady 22-ball 20, before he edged a delivery to wicketkeeper Naman Ojha while charging down the track to Aaron. CSK were 68 for one in 8.1 overs at the loss of Hussey’s wicket. 

There was no slowing down Vijay though. With Virender Sehwag attempting to bring himself on to curtail CSK’s run-rate, Vijay hit the Daredevils captain for a sequence of 6, 4, 0, 4, 6 and 1 to take Chennai to 104 for one at the end of 11 overs. The first of those hits, a six, was caught by Ross Taylor, standing at the midwicket boundary, who unfortunately stepped over the ropes as he landed. 

Suresh Raina too contributed to CSK’s cause with a 69-run stand with Vijay that saw the left-hander hit a 17-ball 27, before he was caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Pawan Negi. MS Dhoni then continued his good form with a 10-ball 23-run cameo. While he was dropped by David Warner at long-on when he was on 14, he was eventually caught by Negi off Aaron in the 17th over. 

Meanwhile, Vijay, who had reached 99 at the fall of Dhoni’s wicket, brought up his first century of IPL 2012 in just 51 balls by flicking a delivery from Aaron off his pads behind square. Although Albie Morkel fell to Umesh Yadav for a first-ball duck, with Dwayne Bravo (33* off 12 balls) cutting loose, CSK reached a mammoth 222 for five in 20 overs. Bravo hit Aaron for 25 runs in the 19th over, which led to the pacer finishing with figures of 4-0-63-2 – the worst by any bowler in the IPL. Sunny Gupta, the debutant, also fared poorly; his three overs cost DD 47 runs. 

Faced with a stiff target, DD made another unusual decision with Mahela Jayawardene sent ahead of Virender Sehwag to open the innings along with David Warner. However, even that move didn’t pay off as Warner (3) fell to Ben Hilfenhuas in the third over. Sehwag (1), batting at No.3, also didn’t trouble the scorers much as he was caught brilliantly by Michael Hussey off Albie Morkel in the fourth over.

From 22 for two, Delhi tried to stay in the game with Jayawardene forging a 52-run stand with Ross Taylor. However, after Taylor (24) was caught by Suresh Raina at long-on in the ninth over, CSK’s spin duo of R Ashwin and Shadab Jakati combined to take five wickets and brought an end to DD’s innings in just 16.5 overs. Jayawardene, who was bowled by Ashwin in the 15th over, top scored for DD with 55 (38 balls); the Daredevils compiled only 136 runs. 

CSK will now have the opportunity to win their third consecutive IPL titles when they take on the Kolkata Knight Riders in the final on May 27 at the same venue. 

Man-of-the-match: Murali Vijay for his brilliant innings of 113* off 58 balls, which powered CSK to their third successive IPL final

Chennai Super Kings (Run Rate: 11.10)			Runs	Balls	SR	4s	6s	Dots
Expand	Murali Vijay	run out (David Warner)	113	58	194.82	15	4
Expand	Michael Hussey	c Naman Ojha b Varun Aaron	20	22	90.90	2	0
Expand	Suresh Raina	c & b Pawan Negi	27	17	158.82	3	1
Expand	MS Dhoni	c Pawan Negi b Varun Aaron	23	10	230.00	1	2
Expand	Albie Morkel	c & b Umesh Yadav	0	1	0.00	0	0
Expand	Dwayne Bravo	not out	33	12	275.00	3	2
	extras	(w 5, lb 1)	6
	Total	(5 wickets; 20 overs)	222

• Bowler	O	R	W	Econ	Dots
  Sunny Gupta	3	47	0	15.66	0
  Umesh Yadav	4	27	1	6.75	7
  Andre Russell	4	30	0	7.50	8
  Varun Aaron	4	63	2	15.75	7
  Pawan Negi	4	33	1	8.25	6
  Virender Sehwag	1	21	0	21.00	1

• Fall of Wickets
  1-68 (Hussey, 8.1ov)	2-137 (Raina, 13.4ov)
  3-173 (Dhoni, 16.3ov)	4-183 (Morkel, 17.1ov)
  5-222 (Vijay, 19.6ov)

Delhi Daredevils (Run Rate: 8.07)			Runs	Balls	SR	4s	6s	Dots
Expand	Mahela Jayawardene	b Ravichandran Ashwin	55	38	144.73	4	2
Expand	David Warner	c Murali Vijay b Ben Hilfenhaus	3	7	42.85	0	0
Expand	Virender Sehwag	c Michael Hussey b Albie Morkel	1	6	16.66	0	0
Expand	Ross Taylor	c Suresh Raina b Dwayne Bravo	24	14	171.42	1	2
Expand	Andre Russell	c Dwayne Bravo b Ravichandran Ashwin	16	11	145.45	2	0
Expand	Naman Ojha	c Murali Vijay b Shadab Jakati	7	5	140.00	0	1
Expand	Venugopal Rao	run out (Dwayne Bravo)	10	7	142.85	0	1
Expand	Pawan Negi	not out	8	6	133.33	0	1
Expand	Sunny Gupta	st MS Dhoni b Shadab Jakati	0	1	0.00	0	0
Expand	Umesh Yadav	b Ravichandran Ashwin	1	4	25.00	0	0
Expand	Varun Aaron	run out (MS Dhoni)	0	2	0.00	0	0
	extras	(w 7, b 1, lb 3)	11
	Total	(10 wickets; 16.5 overs)	136

• Bowler	O	R	W	Econ	Dots
  Ben Hilfenhaus	3	17	1	5.66	8
  Albie Morkel	3	28	1	9.33	4
  Shadab Jakati	4	40	2	10.00	7
  Ravichandran Ashwin	3.5	24	3	6.26	12
  Dwayne Bravo	3	23	1	7.66	5

• Fall of Wickets
  1-17 (Warner, 2.2ov)	2-22 (Sehwag, 3.4ov)
  3-74 (Taylor, 8.2ov)	4-106 (Russell, 11.4ov)
  5-117 (Ojha, 13.2ov)	6-127 (Jayawardene, 14.4ov)
  7-127 (Rao, 14.5ov)	8-135 (Gupta, 15.5ov)
  9-136 (Yadav, 16.3ov)	10-136 (Aaron, 16.5ov)

Destiny wants us to win again: du Plessis

CSK batsman hopes his team makes the most of their fortune and defends title

When the Royal Challengers Bangalore were chasing a modest 133 against the beleaguered Deccan Chargers, the Chennai Super Kings turned from cricketers to fans for a day. Crammed in a hotel room, they cheered their hearts out for the Chargers. There was pandemonium in the room and emotions flowing in abundance. The sharp brains that plot the demise of their opponents on the cricket field, gave in to superstitions. Coach, Stephen Fleming, was shut out of the team room because the players thought he brought ill luck for the Chargers.

In the end, CSK got what they were desperately hoping for – a very unlikely DC victory and with it a berth in the playoffs of IPL 2012. They now play the eliminator against the Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru. 

Ahead of the knockout game, iplt20.com caught up with CSK’s highest run-getter in the tournament, Faf du Plessis. The amicable South African admitted the team was “very lucky” to still be in the tournament and said it’s now imperative for them to make the most of their fortune and lift the trophy for the third time. He revelled in the fact that it was two South Africans – Dale Steyn and JP Duminy from DC – who knocked RCB out to give CSK a playoff spot.

Does the team consider itself fortunate to be here?

Very lucky, to be honest. I did not think it would be possible for us to get through. When it is one result going in your favour, it is asking for a lot; but to have three results going in your favour, it is next to impossible.

Destiny wants you to win the third IPL in a row.

Well, that’s what we are thinking now because we shouldn’t be here but we are here. You have to think that someone is on our side to push us to get another trophy.

Did the team watch the DC v RCB match closely?

We were watching all three games. We were watching the RR game, which they lost and we were cheering for MI – which we never do – and then, the RCB one. To be honest with you, I saw the first two matches, but the third one I just said, “I don’t see DC beating the powerhouse that RCB has”. The previous day, Albie [Morkel] and I had sent out a Tweet to Dale Steyn saying “Please do us a favour and just get some early wickets,” and he was just unbelievable. He took three wickets for eight runs. Another South African, JP Duminy, too scored big runs. It was the two South Africans who came to the party to see CSK through.

We heard that the team had sent coach Stephen Fleming out of the room during that match?

Yeah, it was really funny. The whole team was sitting there and cheering. Fleming went out and RCB started to struggle. He returned after while to join the whole hype of watching the game. As he entered the room, everyone shouted, “Get out” and he was like “I don’t know why should I get out”. He went to his room and things started to go well for DC again. He tried to come in once again, but we denied him entry into the room. He was only allowed in when the last ball was bowled.

CSK has lost both their league matches to MI. Will that play on your minds?

No. In fact, I think something that CSK has done very well as compared to MI is crossing the final hurdle. MI has been fantastic always in the round robin, but sometimes they haven’t gone past the knockout stage. We have been there, we have done it and we know how to do it. So, for us the important thing now is to understand that everything that has happened up till now is gone. The inconsistency is gone. In the past, we have been the better side in the big games, so that’s what matters in this game.

What is the biggest threat from MI?

To have someone like [Lasith] Malinga is a great boost. He plays a key role in the bowling department and how we play him is going to be very important. He has done well in the matches against CSK. They have got good finishers and so do we; the only difference between the two teams is Malinga, who’s the best T20 bowler in the world. For us, [Ben] Hilfenhaus has been doing well with the new ball, which is something we lacked until he came. That adds strength to our team.

CSK’s game in Bengaluru was washed out, whereas MI beat RCB here. Will they have better knowledge of the conditions?

It is a really good wicket and we have got a really strong batting line-up. It was unfortunate that we missed out on the game because of the rains. There is a true bounce on the wicket, which the batsmen will relish. Hopefully, our powerhouse batting will put some runs on the board.

Hilfenhaus and Michael Hussey have put you on the brink. What do you think are your chances of getting a game?

That’s up to the selectors. I was sick for two games; I had bad viral fever. That created a chance for Michael to come back in to the setup and he has done well. Now, it’s a difficult one for the selectors, because I have been doing really well and so is Hussey. Luckily, I don’t have to make that decision.

But it’s not easy to leave out your highest run-scorer of the season.

That’s the theory. In the previous game, they went for Michael and the thinking behind that was that he has been doing well and I was sick and 90 percent fit. Now, I am back to 100 percent and I obviously want to play. But it’s up to Fleming and MS [Dhoni] and what they think will be the best team on that day.