September 18, Port Elizabeth: Opener Murali Vijay’s breezy 73 went in vain as Victoria Bushrangers snatched a dramatic win over Chennai Super Kings in a keenly contested Champions League Twenty20 Group A match that had to be decided via the Super Over.
With Hayden not opening, Dhoni surprised everyone by sending Michael Hussey at the top of the innings with Murali Vijay. The move didn’t exactly pay rich dividends as both openers were kept in check by a tight Victorian pace attack. Peter Siddle, Clint McKay and Dirk Nannes all sacrificed the extra yard of pace for a tight line and the ploy worked well as the Kings’ openers were unable to raise the scoring rate to beyond seven runs an over.
Hussey eventually fell to Bryce McGain while trying to force the pace and Suresh Raina was soon to follow him back into the dugout, the Indian left-hander being clean bowled by Clint McKay. At 94 for 2 in 13.1 overs, Chennai had wickets in hand but the question on everyone’s minds was - would they be able to finish with a flourish? Vijay certainly had everyone believing Chennai could, as the opener struck a flurry of boundaries with a couple of his hits off McKay and Siddle even clearing the ropes after the fall of Hussey’s wicket. But Chennai lost the momentum by losing wickets every over since the 17th. Vijay was the first to fall having made a vital contribution of 73 and S Anirudha, Dhoni and Badrinath were then dismissed in successive overs to leave Chennai with a respectable, but not very challenging, total of 161 on a flat Port Elizabeth wicket.
With two of the clubs having made it through to the semi-finals, Chennai fans would have been anxious about their team’s prospects at the halfway stage. And Aaron Finch further raised their anxiety levels by bludgeoning Doug Bollinger and R Ashwin for a quick fire 17-ball knock of 41 runs. Ashwin nonetheless had the last laugh as he lured Finch into playing a false shot, a top edge from the opener’s bat finding its way back into Ashwin’s hands. Bollinger then dismissed Brad Hodge and for a brief moment, at 49 for 2 in 4.3 overs, it appeared that Chennai had weathered the initial blitz by the Bushrangers.
From here on the match saw fortunes fluctuate wildly with either side looking capable of walking away as winners. Initially, Matthew Wade and David Hussey made the most of Albie Morkel’s absence in the Chennai attack, even hitting Balaji for 17 runs in one over. Then Muralitharan brought the game back into the balance by taking two wickets off consecutive deliveries in the 12th over with the score at 104. But Quiney and Hussey slowly and steadily turned the tide once again in the Bushrangers’ favour, as only 24 were required from the last three overs.
The climax itself was right out of a celluloid thriller as Suresh Raina, bowling his innocuous off-spinners, dismissed Quiney and John Hastings in the 18th over to hand the advantage back to his side. Hussey then fell to Bollinger, but with Peter Siddle hitting a boundary of the last ball of the 19th over, 12 were required from the last over. McKay hit Raina for a six off the very first ball but Raina came right back to land McKay’s and Nannes’ wicket off consecutive deliveries. With six required from three deliveries, Siddle hit a four and then got a single from a missed run-out opportunity by Raina. With the scores tied, Dhoni held his nerve on the last ball to run McGain out and the game was headed for a Super Over.
With Victoria batting first in the Super Over, Dhoni surprisingly opted for R Ashwin to bowl for Chennai, a move that was to back-fire big time as Hussey clobbered Ashwin for three big sixes. The Bushrangers went on to post a lofty total of 23 runs. In reply, Raina and Vijay could manage a mere 13 runs in their allotted over to bring the curtains down on a classic game of T20 cricket and hand the Bushrangers a famous victory.
Brief Scores – Victorian Bushrangers 162 (David Hussey 51, Aaron Finch 41, Suresh Raina 4-26) beat
Chennai Super Kings 162 for 6 (Murali Vijay 73, Michael Hussey 25, John Hastings 2-22) in Super Over
Man-of-the-match – Aaron Finch for his 17-ball blitz of 41 runs that laid the foundation of a successful run chase for the Bushrangers.
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