Vijay, Bollinger set up Chennai win by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Ground:	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Scorecard:	Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
Player:	SR Watson, NV Ojha, SR Watson, JA Morkel, M Vijay
Event:	Indian Premier League 2009/10

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DateLine: 3rd April 2010

 

On a belter of a pitch that saw a run feast, Rajasthan Royals nearly chased the mammoth target (247) set by Chennai Super Kings and fell short by 23 runs in the DFL IPL 3 match at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Saturday.

 

Australian Doughie Bollinger’s miserly spell (two for 15) and a great catch put skids on Royals which made a brave effort to overhaul a target which looked insurmountable.Bollinger’s lion-hearted effort overshadowed M Vijay’s brutal knock (127 off 56 balls) and a near century from Naman Ohja (94 not out off 55 balls). On a day when none of the bowlers commanded respect,Bollinger’s figures were out of the world. More than his wickets it was his extra-ordinary catch to dismiss Pathan which hurt Royals more.

 

Lumb and Ojha had given the Royals a flying start. But Lumb slashed Morkel to be caught by Anirudha Srikanth. The dangerous Yusuf Pathan only faced two balls and had dispatched the first one contemptuously to the fence. Yusuf top-edged a pull off Morkel and the ball came to Bollinger at long on fence, the bowler stretched to take the catch and finding himself off balance threw the ball back into play and then came back to complete the catch. Morkel’s twin strike had put skids on Royals’ charge. But Shane Watson and Naman Ojha bludgeoned the Chennai attack and gave their team a sniff of victory. Watson’s slog swept the spinners and savagely pulled the medium pacers through mid-wicket to score 60 runs off 25 balls before he was undone by a slower ball from Bollinger.

 

Watson’s wicket derailed the chase and Bollinger prised out Jhunjunwala cheaply. Ojha was deprived of the strike and the mounting run-rate was too much for rest of the Rajasthan batsman who caved in meekly.

 

Earlier, Murali Vijay set Chepauk on fire with blistering strokeplay. Vijay was on song and created room and used his strong forearms to drill the ball over the fence off faster bowlers. Vijay came down the track and lofted the spinners with panache as hit 11 sixes and treated Rajasthan bowlers with scant respect.

 

The flat track nullified Tait’s pace and the bowler was also wayward. He was pasted by Vijay and the faster Tait bowled the harder he was hit by Vijay. After Warne had prised out Raina with a wide delivery which the batsman managed to slash to Tait at point it was carnage as Morkel joined Vijay. If the first 10 overs of the Chennai innings yielded 97 runs, the next 10 brought in nearly 150 runs. Vijay who completed his fifty with a straight six off Warne changed gears after the milestone. He waded into Tait and spoiled the figures of Watson. Vijay whose first fifty came off 30 balls took just 16 to reach his second fifty. Vijay warmed up by depositing Yusuf’s fatish off-breaks for three sixes and didn’t spare the great Warne either. Vijay who struck just two sixes in his first 50 hit another seven on his way to his hundred which he duly completed by slapping Watson for a straight four. Morkel too struck five sixes as the third wicket pair added 152 runs in just under 11 overs. Though Chennai lost three wickets in the last over, the damage was already being done.