Match 20: Chennai Super Kings v Warriors

September 22, Port Elizabeth: MS Dhoni’s luck with the toss continued and the Chennai captain opted to bat first on a wicket which had proved to be on the slower side in the earlier game between Wayamba and Central Stags. Dhoni wasn’t lucky enough to have Albie Morkel in the side, though - the all-rounder is yet to recover from a side strain.
Michael Hussey and M Vijay started in similar fashion in their game against the Victorian Bushrangers. The duo held steady while putting on 37 runs in the first six overs without losing any wicket. Vijay then changed gears and hit Nicky Boje for 16 runs in the seventh over, but this proved to be a minor aberration in what was to otherwise be a very tidy bowling performance by the Warriors.
Justin Kreusch’s introduction into the attack paid immediate dividends as the medium pacer struck three crucial blows to keep Chennai in check.  Vijay, Suresh Raina and S Badrinath all fell to Kreusch and with Hussey falling to Johan Botha after a well paced half-century, the Kings were against the ropes. Dhoni’s 21-ball 31 got them to 136 but for a side battling for a place in the semi-final against two other teams (Bushrangers included), this was a most ordinary score. And with the Warriors needing to make only a 109 runs to qualify for the semi-final, irrespective of the result, the pressure was most certainly on CSK.
Yet, Chennai weren’t about to roll over. The St George’s Park wicket favoured the slower bowlers and with the addition of Shadab Jakati in their ranks, CSK must have believed at the halfway stage that they could still win this game.
Doug Bollinger came steaming in and R Ashwin bowled his unorthodox spin with the guile of a veteran. The Warriors’ openers were kept in check and Ashwell Prince was caught brilliantly at slip by Justin Kemp in trying to break free of the shackles. Davey Jacobs, the man in form for the Warriors, was in no mood to surrender the advantage. He hit a couple of boundaries to the mid-wicket fence and long-on, but got out to Jakati having made 32 off just 31 deliveries. Colin Ingram’s horrid run at CLT20 continued when he was dismissed by Suresh Raina. At 63 for 3 in 11.3 overs, Chennai had clawed their way right back into this match.
Justin Kreusch then struck a handy 44-run partnership with Mark Boucher off 35 balls and the duo were looking to not only take the Warriors past the qualifying mark, but also knock Chennai out of the competition with a victory to the home side. Dhoni then brought on Ashwin to bowl the 18th over and the spinner got rid of both batsmen - but not before Boucher had steered the Warriors past the qualifying mark of 109. And with 25 required off the last two overs, Bollinger and Muralitharan took a few wickets to keep the Warriors’ total down to 126 and hand Chennai a famous win.
After the fascinating game, Rudi Koertzen took a victory lap to mark the end of his umpiring career. It was also the end of Victorian Bushrangers’ CLT20 campaign. Over to the semis.

Brief Scores – Chennai Super Kings 136 for 6 (Michael Hussey 50, Murali Vijay 35, Justin Kreusch 3-19) beat  
Warriors 126 for 8 (Davey Jacobs 32, Justin Kreusch 25, Mark Boucher 25, R Ashwin 3-24) by 10 runs
Man-of-the-match – Mike Hussey for his knock of 50 runs on a difficult wicket and his two outstanding catches.

Match 19: Wayamba Elevens v Central Stags

September 22, Port Elizabeth: Wayamba displayed a stunning bowling master class to outclass the Stags by a whopping 74-run margin at Port Elizabeth’s St. George’s Park in the last encounter that the two sides face in the tournament.

Electing to bat after winning the toss, Wayamba looked like they were in a trance right from the outset. Opener Jeevantha Kulatunga looked out of sorts right from the word go and he was put out of his misery in the third over by Michael Mason. Wayamba’s star man Mahela Jayawardene (20) looked good during his short stint at the crease but he became seamer Mitchell McClenaghan’s first victim after holing out at mid-on. His namesake Mahela Udawatte, meanwhile, lost all sense of purpose during his painful 23 off 37 balls, and eventually was deceived by a Jamie How delivery.

The Sri Lankan side just couldn’t come to terms with the Stags slowing the pace down as often as possible. Skipper Jehan Mubarak (30) was the only man looking capable of breaking free from the Stags’ shackles. And it did look like it was Mubarak’s day after he hoiked a Kieran Noema-Barnett delivery over the long-off boundary for a six, but he too gave Mason some catching practice off the very next delivery. The paucity of runs ensured that Wayamba went for it eventually but lost both Kaushal Lokuarachchi (12) and Kushal Janith Perera (1) trying to up the ante. There was a glimmer of hope for Wayamba in the form of some big hitting from Thisara Perera (12*) and Shalika Karunanayake (15*) in the final overs which propelled their score to an honourable 144/6.

Buoyed by their good bowling performance, Kiwi openers Jamie How and Peter Ingram must have expected an easy road home. But they were in for a surprise - Ajantha Mendis set the ball rolling after trapping How right in front. And Isuru Udana took over from him in the devastating third over. Udana’s intelligence was duly rewarded with a hat-trick as he dismissed Brad Patton, Mathew Sinclair and George Worker off consecutive deliveries. Patton misread the slower one and looped a catch to the keeper; Sinclair lost his balance and got stumped off a leg side wide; and Worker was castled to reduce the Kiwis to 16/4. Opener Ingram, who saw the wreckage from the other end, couldn’t handle the pressure either as Mendis got his scalp.
Kieran Noema-Barnett tried to slog his way out of trouble but was sent packing by Rangana Herath in the sixth over, with the Stags reeling at 36/6. It just wasn’t working for the Kiwis as Herath got Diamanti caught behind to get his second wicket of the match. Waymba preserved their best for last as Mubarak then took a blinder of a catch to see the back of Bevan Griggs. The Stags were falling like 10 pins and were eventually skittled out for just 70.


Brief Scores – Wayamba Elevens 144 for 6 (Jehan Mubarak 30, Mahela Udawatte 23, Michael Mason 2-16) beat
Central Stags 70 all out (Bevan Griggs 19,Ajantha Mendis 3-14, Isuru Udana3-22) by 74 runs.

Man-of-the-match – Isuru Udana, for his fantastic hat-trick that set the ball rolling for a stunning Stags collapse.