L Balaji had been in the wilderness during his long injury layoff, but not many would forget his performance against the Kings XI Punjab in front of a home crowd in Chennai. He took two wickets to spark a collapse in the Punjab innings, but in the final over of the day took the first hat-trick in the Indian Premier League to cap off a wonderful evening.
More to follow
20 overs Chennai Super Kings 181 for 4 (Badrinath 64, Dhoni 60*) v Kings XI Punjab
S Badrinath justified his promotion up the order with a brisk 64 (file photo) © Cricinfo Ltd
In a see-saw battle, local boy S Badrinath and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni threatened to take the game away as Michael Hussey had done in the previous encounter between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, but Punjab's bowlers came back well to keep the hosts down to 181 for 4 in Chennai.
The partnership between Badrinath and Dhoni had set it up for a blitz in the final five overs. They had added 80 off 49 deliveries, but Punjab's bowlers, who have been impressive during their side's five consecutive wins, kept their cool, giving away just 37 after Chennai had plundered 59 in overs 11-15.
The contest between bat and ball had been even till Dhoni picked out Piyush Chawla for some special treatment. Runs didn't come easily during his run-a-ball 33 against the Delhi Daredevils the last game, but soon after his arrival Chennai's adopted hero sent the crowd into raptures by clobbering Chawla for three sixes; the first two sailed into the leg-side stands, while and the third was hit flat over the bowler's head.
Yuvraj soon went in for damage control, bringing on Irfan Pathan, his side's leading wicket-taker, for his second spell as early as the 13th over. Badrinath, who had scored 35 off 30, lofted a six over long-on, before pulling another over the boundary. He brought up his fifty off 37 deliveries, and improvised well to hit two consecutive fours off VRV Singh.
Punjab did well to rein in the rampaging batsmen after overs 11-15 went for 59 runs. Sreesanth's final over - the 16th - went for just five. James Hopes and VRV took the cue and targeted the blockhole, and the run-scoring abated. Badrinath perished for 64 while trying to break the boundary drought. Hopes was taken for 17 in the 19th over, but Chennai would be disappointed at not having been able to go past the 200-run mark, which looked likely at one stage.
It was Sreesanth who had given Punjab the early advantage as well, removing both the openers. He persisted with the line across the left-hander, giving away two wides and two boundaries on the off side before S Vidyut flirted at one too many and was caught sharply by Mahela Jayawardene at slip. Sreesanth suffered a painful blow when he blocked a straight drive from Suresh Raina with his foot, but he soon had another wicket as Stephen Fleming hit straight into the hands of cover in his next over.
Raina and Badrinath then worked around the ball for the singles and twos, before Badrinath lofted Sreesanth over midwicket and then over his head to break the sequence of 16 balls without a boundary. Raina carted VRV's first ball over the off-side ring. VRV then overstepped, and Badrinath stood back in his crease and sent the ball sailing into the stands over midwicket to make it 19 runs in the space of four deliveries, and bring up the team's fifty.
Yuvraj brought on legspinner Piyush Chawla after the Powerplay overs, and Raina stepped out to place the ball over the leg-side boundary. An outside edge off a googly ran for four, but Raina was tempted later by a shorter ball from Chawla, the attempted slog resulting in his downfall.
More to follow
20 overs Chennai Super Kings 181 for 4 (Badrinath 64, Dhoni 60*) v Kings XI Punjab
S Badrinath justified his promotion up the order with a brisk 64 (file photo) © Cricinfo Ltd
In a see-saw battle, local boy S Badrinath and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni threatened to take the game away as Michael Hussey had done in the previous encounter between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, but Punjab's bowlers came back well to keep the hosts down to 181 for 4 in Chennai.
The partnership between Badrinath and Dhoni had set it up for a blitz in the final five overs. They had added 80 off 49 deliveries, but Punjab's bowlers, who have been impressive during their side's five consecutive wins, kept their cool, giving away just 37 after Chennai had plundered 59 in overs 11-15.
The contest between bat and ball had been even till Dhoni picked out Piyush Chawla for some special treatment. Runs didn't come easily during his run-a-ball 33 against the Delhi Daredevils the last game, but soon after his arrival Chennai's adopted hero sent the crowd into raptures by clobbering Chawla for three sixes; the first two sailed into the leg-side stands, while and the third was hit flat over the bowler's head.
Yuvraj soon went in for damage control, bringing on Irfan Pathan, his side's leading wicket-taker, for his second spell as early as the 13th over. Badrinath, who had scored 35 off 30, lofted a six over long-on, before pulling another over the boundary. He brought up his fifty off 37 deliveries, and improvised well to hit two consecutive fours off VRV Singh.
Punjab did well to rein in the rampaging batsmen after overs 11-15 went for 59 runs. Sreesanth's final over - the 16th - went for just five. James Hopes and VRV took the cue and targeted the blockhole, and the run-scoring abated. Badrinath perished for 64 while trying to break the boundary drought. Hopes was taken for 17 in the 19th over, but Chennai would be disappointed at not having been able to go past the 200-run mark, which looked likely at one stage.
It was Sreesanth who had given Punjab the early advantage as well, removing both the openers. He persisted with the line across the left-hander, giving away two wides and two boundaries on the off side before S Vidyut flirted at one too many and was caught sharply by Mahela Jayawardene at slip. Sreesanth suffered a painful blow when he blocked a straight drive from Suresh Raina with his foot, but he soon had another wicket as Stephen Fleming hit straight into the hands of cover in his next over.
Raina and Badrinath then worked around the ball for the singles and twos, before Badrinath lofted Sreesanth over midwicket and then over his head to break the sequence of 16 balls without a boundary. Raina carted VRV's first ball over the off-side ring. VRV then overstepped, and Badrinath stood back in his crease and sent the ball sailing into the stands over midwicket to make it 19 runs in the space of four deliveries, and bring up the team's fifty.
Yuvraj brought on legspinner Piyush Chawla after the Powerplay overs, and Raina stepped out to place the ball over the leg-side boundary. An outside edge off a googly ran for four, but Raina was tempted later by a shorter ball from Chawla, the attempted slog resulting in his downfall.
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