Ranchi: A packed Sunday crowd at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi here were treated to some breathtaking strokeplay as the Chennai Super Kings pipped Titans by four wickets in a highscoring Group `B' CLT20 game.
However, it was not the bat of the local boy M.S. Dhoni but the blades of Titans' AB de Villiers and CSK's Suresh Raina and Michael Hussey that made all the right noises on the day. Dhoni, though, brought the stadium onto its feet when he sent the ball packing for a maximum towards the end of the innings.
CSK had some nervous moments afterwards but managed to close out the game with seven balls to spare, finishing at 187/6. After the first-ball departure of opener Murali Vijay, Raina and Hussey launched a brilliant counter-attack to put the Titans on backfoot. The duo raised 73/1 by the end of the powerplay and when Raina departed for 47 in the eighth over with the total at 95/2, CSK were neck and neck with their rivals in the match.
Hussey followed with an identical individual score in the 10th over leaving it to the middle order to convert the start. S. Badrinath and Dwayne Bravo took it from where the preceding two left giving CSK a firm grip at 155/3 in 15 overs, bringing the equation down to 31 off 30 balls. CSK were heading towards an easy win with 14 needed off 22 balls but they were not scored as fluently as the winners would have wanted.
Dhoni sports new hairstyle
Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S. Dhoni sported a new hairstyle as he made his way into the game against South African side Titans here on Sunday. Dhoni, who had long hairs when he burst onto the cricket scene about a decade back, decided to go in for a style similar to mohawk, once made famous by star England striker David Beckham.
The 32-year-old, coming back after a break, has experimented with hair styles going from long haired to short to crew cut and almost bald during the 2011 World Cup which India went on to win. Till the eve of the match on Saturday, Dhoni was seen with his regular hairstyle which means he would have possibly got the hair done earlier in the day.
Rampaul picks four wickets as Trinidad & Tobago get the better of Brisbane by 25 runs
Led by Ravi Rampaul, Trinidad & Tobago's bowlers gave a spirited display to shut out Brisbane Heat by 25 runs in a Group B game of the CLT20 at the JSCA International Stadium Complex here on Sunday. The West Indians bowled out the opposition for 110 in 18.4 overs, with four wickets to Rampaul's credit, defending 135.
Brisbane were tied down at the start with only 22 coming from the six overs of powerplay . Play was held up for about 20 minutes due to the failure of one of the floodlights during the 8th over just when the Heat had lost Peter Forrest. The T&T bowlers kept the runrate under five for the first 10 overs as the Australian side's score of 47/2 left them needing 89 to win from the remaining 60 balls with mystery spinner Sunil Narine still to bowl.
For the Heat, Joe Burns was slowly developing his innings into a crucial one as he hit two sixes in the 11th and the 12th over and was denied a third by an acrobatic Lendl Simmons at long-off boundary. Rayad Emrit provided the opening T&T were looking for in the 14th over by accounting for Daniel Christian leg-before. Narine struck a double blow in the next over, prising out Chris Lynn and Chris Hartley .
Rampaul bowled Burns to give T&T the upper edge and the last four wickets failed to raise the remaining 45 runs off 24 balls, finishing at 110 in 18.4 overs. Earlier, the T&T total of 135/9 was largely built on the effort of skipper Denesh Ramdin, who scored 48. Heat pacer Alister McDermott (4/37) and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz kept the total in check with double strikes in the 18th and the 11th overs respectively.