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M.S.Dhoni slammed 54 (not out) which enabled Chennai Super Kings to beat Kings XI Punjab by six wickets in a nail-biting finish. Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala on Sunday. Battiing first, Kings XI Punjab opened the innings with Jayawardane and Marsh. Jayawardane was out for 21   runs at the score of 34 for 1. He had hit 2 fours and two sixes.

Sangakara came in to bat and joined Marsh at the crease. Together they took the score to 90 for 2.  Sangakara was out after scoring 33 runs off 24 balls which included 5 shots to the fence. Yuvraj did not last long and was lbw bowled Raina for 1 run.

Shaun Marsh and Irfan Pathan played some incredible shots and took the score to 192 for 2. Marsh scored 88 runs which included 8 fours and 5 sixes and his bravado was a treat to watch. Irfan Pathan gave him adequate support at the other end and scored 44 runs punctualted 4 fours and a six. They added 99 runs for the fourth wicket off only 48 balls.

Bollinger, Morkel and Ashwin got one wicket each but Ashwin (1/20) was the only economic bowler in the Chennai attack.

Chennai now needed 193 to win this match and secure their berth in the semi final line-up. Powar cleaned up both the openers Mathew Hayden and Murli Vijai and the Chennai score read a dismal 27 for 2.

From 27 for 2 in the fifth over, it was Raina who held the Chennai reigns  with Badrinath and took the score to 89 for 3.  The sixes kept raining until he was out for 46 runs, caught Goel bowled Theron in the 10th over. Raina hit 5 fours and three sixes. After his departure it was Badrinath who took control with  Dhoni to pile the runs on the board. Badrinath slammed 7 fours and 2 sixes in his 53 and was out caught Sangakara bowled Chawla.

In came Morkel who supported Dhoni to ensure that there was no further damage and Dhoni played a remarkable knock which took Chennai   into the semis. Dhoni hit 25 runs in the last two overs. Theron bowled the 19th over and Dhoni hit two boundaries off him and then they took three singles also from that over. In the last over, 16 runs were required to win.

In came Irfan Pathan to bowl the last over. Dhoni hit a boundry  of the first ball, then took 2 runs in the next ball. Thereafter, Dhoni slammed a towering six and the ball was lost on the roof of the HPCA Stadium. Four runs were now required off three balls and the determined Dhoni hit another huge six to take his team to the desirous victory which ensured them a berth in the semi final for the third IPL season continuously.

M.S.Dhoni bagged the Man of the match award.

Ravi Matah.

Tags: Chennai Super Kings, HPCA Stadium Dharamsala, Irfan Pathan, Kings XI Punjab, M.S.Dhoni, Shaun Marsh

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 18th, 2010 at 10:39 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.