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Superstars downs Giants

Principal Correspondent

Ian Harvey scalps four wickets
Satish and Kumaran play stellar roles

HYDERABAD: Chennai Superstars came up with a thoroughly professional performance to score a 56-run win over Delhi Giants in the Edelweiss 20s Challenge cricket championship at the floodlit Lal Bahadur Stadiumhere on Thursday.

Rajagopal Satish (62, 46 balls, 5 x 4, 2 x 6), captain Ian Harvey (four for 24) and Thiru Kumaran (three for 12) came up with special performances to script this impressive win for Chennai.

Chasing a target of 181 in 20 overs, Delhi was off to a flier thanks to a breezy knock by Monish Mishra (38, 28 balls, 5 x 4, 2 x 6) as it posted 50 for no loss in 4.4 overs. Chennai got the first breakthrough when opener Avishka Gunawardene, after an elegant flick, drove straight to covers off Ian Harvey.

Then, a double blow in the seventh over from medium-pacer Thiru Kumaran saw Chennai come back strongly. First, he lured captain Marvan Atapattu (5) with a teasing out swinger into an off-drive only to see the batsman give a simple catch at covers. Kumaran was on a hat-trick as he trapped Syed Abbas Ali (0) lbw of the next ball with one that came back sharply to leave Delhi struggling at 64 for four.

To the delight of Chennai captain and ‘man of the match’ Ian Harvey, the bowlers stuck to the wicket-to-wicket line. Abhinav Bali, who swung left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad for a huge six, was dismissed trying to repeat the stroke in the same over to leave Delhi in dire straits at 87 for five in the 12th over.

Decisive win

After that it was all over bar the shouting. And, when Chennai bundled out Delhi Giants for 124 in 18.4 overs, it was a decisive win.

Earlier, Sri Lankan Russell Arnold and Rajagopal Satish chipped in with useful contributions to help Chennai score 180 for five.

Put in to bat, Chennai lost an early wicket when the dangerous Ian Harvey played all over a swinging yorker from Salabh Srivastava. But, that did not deter Russel Arnold (49, 40, 6 x 4).

His intentions seemed pretty clear — demoralise the strike bowler Shane Bond.

Two quick dismissals of Ganapathi Vignesh (8) and southpaw Hemang Badani (2) in the space of one over saw Delhi back into the game as Chennai was struggling at 40 for three in fifth over. But, Satish struck form hitting two huge sixes — both of medium-pacer Jai Prakash Yadav.

At the other end, Arnold proved a point with his big-hitting ability, carting left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza over mid-wicket. The two put on 50 in 37 balls for the fourth wicket to give the innings the much desired momentum.

Just when they threatened to stay till the end both departed in quick succession.

Fine finish

In came, Michael Bevan and showed why he was rated so highly, with his percentage cricket. He first flicked Shane Bond through mid-wicket with ease, then swung the same bowler for another four.

In the same over, Vasanth Saravanan surprised the New Zealand fast bowler with his ability to improvise with a flat-batted six over long-on. Just the impetus the innings badly needed in the slog overs.

In the final over, Bevan thrived on a dropped chance in the deep off Jai Prakash Yadav to score two more fours to help Chennai post a challenging score.

The scores: Chennai Superstars 180 for five in 20 overs (Russel Arnold 49, Rajagopal Satish 62, Salabh Srivastava two for 27) bt Delhi Giants 124 in 18.4 overs (Monish Misra 38, Ian Harvey four for 24, Thiru Kumaran three for 12).

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