Trinidad & Tobago stayed alive in the tournament by beating Chennai Super Kings at their home ground on a slow and low Chepauk track. Kevon Cooper scored 28 off 10 as T&T took 49 off their last five overs and posted 123 for eight. Cooper came up with a seven-run 19th over to make sure Sunil Narine’s figures of 4-0-8-3 didn’t go waste.
The Super Kings managed that well for the first 15 overs, but T&T managed to do it for longer, as hosts could reach 111 for six.
That the T&T openers put on only 52 in 9.3 overs. Towards the end, Perkins managed to hit two sixes before he was done in by the slowness of the track. Simmons was surprised by Saha’s quickness at point, and Darren Bravo and Daren Ganga found fielders with precision to make it 72 for 4 in the 15th over. Only when the Super Kings brought the quick bowlers back could T&T get a move on. It began when Barath somehow managed to impart pace on a late-cut to a slower ball from Albie Morkel. In the next over he managed to upper-cut another slower one, this time from Dwayne Bravo. However, Doug Bollinger got the better off him with another slower ball, threatening to nip the comeback in its bud. Bollinger continued with the formula that had worked for them fine: bowl in the middle of the pitch. However, Cooper managed to hit two such balls for sixes, and also dismissed a length ball from Dwayne Bravo over long-off.
Narine turned the game around with mix of offbreaks and finger-flicked legbreaks. M Vijay showed he hadn’t learned any lessons form T&T’s failures, and got out slogging. Suresh Raina didn’t pick the legbreak, and offered a return catch.
A choke from the slower bowlers followed. S Badrinath and Wriddhiman Saha struggled to find even the singles. Daren Ganga persisted with single-saving fields, and his fielders were electric. By the time Dhoni ran Badrinath out, the equation was down to 72 off 49. For the third time in a row, T&T had made a game out of defence, but they needed to finish well. Cooper managed to do that against Dhoni, but Bravo smashed Sherwin Ganga for two fours in the 16th over. Even as Narine came back to end Dhoni’s misery, Dwayne Bravo reminded Rampaul of his horrors by taking 14 off the 18th over. With 33 to defend in the last two, and their history in this tournament, T&T had cause for worry. Not with Cooper, whose mix of slower balls and yorkers conceded just seven, including an edge for four. Morkel hit two sixes off the last two balls, but that might only be of any significance if the Super Kings somehow advance to the next round based on net run-rate.
NSW win battle of nerves Mumbai: New South Wales beat Mumbai Indians in a low-scoring encounter in Chennai. The winners chased the Mumbai target of 101 target for the loss of six wickets.
The win not only keeps NSW in the race for the semi-finals but also in control of their own destiny, while Mumbai Indians will have to watch other results to know whether they progress.
On a hot and cloudless day, and on a track where the ball kept low and didn’t come on to the bat, each member of NSW’s attack played their part as Mumbai’s batting faltered for the third time in the tournament. Only James Franklin put in a decent effort. Faced with a target of 101, it seemed a straightforward chase, but fast bowler Abu Nechim reduced NSW to 28 for 5 before they got home through Steven Smith and Ben Rohrer’s unbroken 73-run stand.
Summarised scores:
Trinidad & Tobago 123 for 8 (Perkins 34, Cooper 28, Jakati 2-18)
Chennai Super Kings 111 for 6 (Bravo 32*, Narine 3-8) by 12 runs
New South Wales 101 for 5
(Steven Smith 45*, Nechim 3-23)
Mumbai Indians 100 for 7 (Franklin 42*) by five wickets.
