After a last over thriller between Punjab and Hyderabad, Kimberly was set for another exciting contest as Dhoni and Shane Warne set out for the toss. Warne won the toss and chose to bat first. Chennai made two changes in their eleven - Jacob Oram and Murali Vijay were brought back in place of George Bailey and Manpreet Gony. Meanwhile, Rajasthan had three changes in their line-up - Munaf Patel, Niraj Patel and Morne Morkel made way for Siddharth Trivedi, Swapnil Asnodkar and Shane Harwood.The Dhoni led team got an early break-through when Naman Ojha was bowled by Morkel in the first over. Asnodkar came in at number three, looking for a good outing. Chennai maintained a tight line and length not giving a chance for the batsmen to free their arms. After seeing through the initial overs, Smith and Asnodkar started to open up, scoring at a faster rate. The duo carried on and brought up the fifty partnership in the 9th over. However the Sri Lankan maestro struck in the same over, trapping Asnodkar LBW.
Graeme Smith got a lucky break in the 10th over when Sudeep Tyagi put him down off Raina's bowling. Rajasthan went into the 'Strategy Break' at 61/2.On the other side of the break, Jadeja gave Smith good company as the duo were trying to post a good score while Muralitharan and Raina bowled in tandem and tried to slow things down. Chennai's strategy paid off when Smith, trying to go for a big one off Muralitharan, missed the ball and was stumped by Dhoni. Smith's dismissal brought the hard-hitting Yusuf Pathan to the crease.
Yusuf started off in his trademark fashion, hitting Jakati for a mighty six. Balaji was brought back into the attack and he immediately struck for Chennai dismissing Jadeja. A brilliant catch by Suresh Raina brought about the dismissal of Jadeja. Chennai got a vital break-through in the 16th over when Yusuf Pathan tried to hit Jakati over the top but holed out to Jacob Oram at long-on. Carseldine and Raut were soon to follow, getting out in quick succession. A couple of lusty blows towards the end by Shane Warne helped Rajasthan to finish their innings at 140/7.Having posted a competitive score, making early in-roads into the formidable Chennai line-up was vital for Rajasthan.
Chennai started off with Hayden and Murali Vijay. The master tactician Shane Warne had his bowlers follow a disciplined approach, making it difficult for the Chennai openers to score. Rajasthan's tight bowling paid dividends, when Murali Vijay was trapped LBW by Trivedi, bringing the in-form Suresh Raina to the crease. Raina and Hayden played diligently, rotating the strike and putting away the bad balls. After some time at the crease, Raina took the aggressive approach, going for quick runs. He took the attack to Amith Singh, scoring a boundary and a six off his over. However, he went for one shot too many and holed out to Carseldine in the same over.On a pitch which seemed to assist the spinners, Warne and Pathan bowled in tandem targeting Badrinath. The batsman was struggling to cope with the spinners, unable to rotate the strike. Having watched it from the other end, Hayden took over and started to take the attack to his former team-mate. In a mouth watering contest, Hayden scored a four and six off Warne, having survived a close caught behind appeal.
Chennai went into the break at 67/2, requiring 74 more runs to win off 60 balls.Coming from the break, Hayden and Badrinath upped the ante and got the score moving at a quicker rate. The duo went on to reach the fifty partnership as they closed in on the target. It was down to the last 5 overs with Chennai requiring 44 more runs to win. Harwood was given the ball for the 16th over and he was taken for 20 runs off his over by Badrinath, bringing the required run-rate down to 6 per over. After a professional knock, Hayden was dismissed by Shane Warne in the 17th over. Hayden went back to the dug-out two short of his fifty. Meanwhile, Badrinath went on to score a well made fifty with a boundary off Amit Singh. He carried on till the end and took Chennai to their 6th victory. Badrinath remained unbeaten on 59 off 41 balls. His innings included 9 fours and 1 six.
Interesting Facts:
Suresh Raina becomes the second batsman after Matthew Hayden to score 300 IPL runs this season. He currently has 309 runs in his bag.With 426 runs under his belt, Matthew Hayden becomes the first batsman to go past the 400 run mark in this season of the IPL. He continues to hold the orange cap.Subramaniam Badrinath compiled an unbeaten knock of 59 runs today and that was his 1st fifty of this season and the third overall.This was Chennai's fifth win on the trot which happens to be the longest winning streak in this season of the IPL so far.
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