Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the Chennai Super Kings’ eight-wicket win over the Eastern Cape Warriors in the final of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament was “a real emotional moment” for a team who might have been playing their last match together.
Looking ahead to a planned auction before the next Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which could mean drastic changes to the teams, Dhoni paid tribute to his players, who clinched a double following their IPL triumph earlier this year.
Spin bowlers Ravichandran Ashwin and Muttiah Muralitharan set up the win as the Warriors were restricted to 128 for seven in 20 overs. Chennai opening batsmen Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay put on 103 for the first wicket without needing to take any risks. The result was never in any real doubt although there were only six balls to spare when Dhoni hit the winning runs.
PHOTO: AFP
The win earned Chennai a US$2.5 million jackpot, while the Warriors took home US$1.3 million.
Dhoni paid tribute to coach Stephen Fleming, who he said had helped create a dressing room atmosphere in which players went out of their way to help their teammates.
“There was a great deal of help from experienced players like [Matthew] Hayden and Hussey, and we are fortunate to have fabulous foreign players,” Dhoni said.
Dhoni said Ashwin and Muralitharan had bowled superbly to change the course of the match after the Warriors got off to a flying start, with captain Davy Jacobs hitting 34 off 21 balls. The South African team raced to 39 for no wicket in the first four overs before Ashwell Prince was bowled by Doug Bollinger for six.
Jacobs was out in the next over when he missed an attempted reverse sweep against Ashwin and was leg before wicket.
After that the scoring rate slowed to a trickle. Ashwin, the top wicket-taker in the tournament, took two for 16 in his four overs and fellow off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took three for 16.
Jacobs hit eight boundaries but the rest of the batsmen could only manage five fours and a six between them, with two fours and a six hit by Craig Thyssen off successive balls in the 17th over.
Vijay made 58 and Hussey 51 not out as they methodically chased down the Warriors total.
Vijay, who finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer, had two let-offs, both from Mark Boucher, the most experienced player in the Warriors team. The South African Test wicketkeeper missed an edge off Rusty Theron when Vijay was on 15 and fumbled a stumping chance off left-arm spin bowler Nicky Boje when the batsman had scored 34. Jacobs said Chennai were worthy winners.
“They beat us twice in the competition and they were better than us today so they deserved to win,” he said.
■ZIMBABWE, IRELAND
AP, HARARE
Ed Rainsford took four wickets and smashed the winning runs off the game’s last delivery to lead Zimbabwe to a tense two-wicket win over Ireland in the first one-day international on Sunday.
Rainsford extracted good pace and movement on a flat Harare Sports Club deck to claim a career-best 4-23 as Ireland were bowled out for 200 runs.
The touring side fought back with a spirited bowling performance to nearly salvaged the game, but with the scores even at 200 and Zimbabwe needing a run off the last ball, Rainsford, coming in at No. 10, stood up to Kevin O’Brien and hit a big six through the deep to secure victory.
“I’d never been in that situation before so I felt a bit of pressure,” Rainsford said. “I had the pressure off and focus on getting the runs. On the bowling side, practicing and doing the right things has been key. I’ve been playing a lot of cricket for my franchise and the ‘A’ side and this has helped me a lot.”
Ireland got off to bad start after being sent in to bat by Zimbabwe. Rainsford unsettled the Zimbabweans early, removing opener William Porterfield for 3 and Niall O’Brien for a duck with two straight balls in his first over. Rainsford caught Porterfield off his own bowling before having O’Brien edging a rising delivery to Hamilton Masakadza at second slip.
Opening bowler Chris Mpofu and legspinner Graeme Cremer took two wickets apiece.
In pursuit, Zimbabwe lost opening batsman Hamilton Masakadza first ball and then suffered a middle-innings collapse to give the advantage to Ireland.
Tatenda Taibu, however, held the innings together with a battling 62 and captain Elton Chigumbura then took the attack to the Irish with 41 off 32 balls.
Gary Wilson top-scored with 69 for Ireland, sharing a 105-run fifth wicket stand with Andrew White, who made 47.
“It was obviously disappointing losing on the last ball,” Ireland captain William Porterfield said. “I thought we’d done enough to win the match, but we just could not get those last two wickets. Our bowling and fielding today showed that it is up there.”
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