Murali Vijay hit 53 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni cracked a 19-ball 41 not out to set up Chennai Super Kings’ 63-run win over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League on Monday. Chennai posted a challenging 196-3 before bowling Rajasthan out for 133 to boost their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the Twenty20 tournament. Mumbai have already made sure of a place in the semi-finals with 16 points.
They are followed by Chennai (14), Kolkata (14), Bangalore (13), Rajasthan (11), Kochi (10), Delhi (eight), Pune (six), Deccan (six) and Punjab (six). Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 52 for Rajasthan, who suffered their fifth defeat in 11 matches. Rahul Dravid was the other major contributor with 20. Australian paceman Doug Bollinger was the most successful bowler with 3-22 while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took 2-24.
Spinner Suresh Raina finished the match when he bagged the last two wickets off three balls. Chennai owed their victory to batsmen, with opener Vijay, Australian Michael Hussey (46), Dhoni and Raina (43) all contributing to help their team set a stiff target. They got off to a solid start after being put in to bat, with Hussey and Vijay adding 77 runs for the opening wicket. Vijay also put on 58 for the second wicket with Raina.
Hussey hit eight fours in his impressive 30-ball knock before being bowled by South African off-spinner Johan Botha. Vijay, dropped on four, made the most of the chance and completed his half-century with a six off seamer Siddharth Trivedi. He smashed three sixes in his 40-ball knock. Chennai scored 60 in the last five overs, thanks to skipper Dhoni and Raina. Dhoni hit three sixes and as many fours in his brisk knock.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 196-3 in 20 overs (M. Vijay 53, M. Hussey 46, S. Raina 43, MS Dhoni 41 not out) beat Rajasthan Royals 133 in 19.3 overs (A. Rahane 52, R. Dravid 20; D. Bollinger 3-22, S. Raina 2-0, R. Ashwin 2-24) by 63 runs.
