IPL 3 Semi Final 2: Chennai Super Kings Fight Super Hard to Trounce Deccan Chargers

In a game of attrition, the two teams in the second IPL 3 semi final picked their squads well. And it nearly paid off for each team in their own individual way. But pressure of chasing in a critical match can get to a team, as it did to the Deccan Chargers who would have been confident of beating Chennai Super Kings at the half way mark.

doug bollinger

D.Y. Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai saw a sparse population turn up at the venue for the second match. While the last minute change of view may have had something to do with it, it was also because the Mumbai Indians had swept away the storm the previous night. It was ironical that this was the home ground for the Deccan Chargers because what little loyalty they had was from South actors such as Venkatesh and Siddarth.

The Deccan Chargers inflicted the early damage by snaring three Chennai wickets for just thirty-one runs, making life hard for the batsmen to milk the bowling. Ryan Harris accounted for the now lead weight, Matthew Hayden, and Murali Vijay who seemed good for the going. The inform Suresh Raina slipped as well with Subramaniam Badrinath and Mahendra Singh Dhoni staging a slow consolidation with a fifty run partnership.

It was not easy and with the slower bowlers, and the spinners in particular, Harmeet Singh and Pragyan Ojha, applying the pressure, the Chennai team never really took off. Had it not been for Srikanth Aniruddha's two sixes off the last two overs, Chennai could have been looking at a total of less than 142, which is what they managed.

Chennai's bowlers need to come good and the usual suspects delivered. Seeing a deteriorating pitch, the CSK captain was not only optimistic but also, innovative, perhaps also a take off from the coach, Stephen Fleming himself, and set dynamic fields that worked as plans were executed splendidly by the bowlers.

The Deccan Chargers got off to a start not dissimilar to that of the CSK. Three wickets including that of Adam Gilchrist fell quickly, Doug Bollinger beginning the crash with the first two and Albie Morkel pulling off the third even as R. Ashwin continued to use his spin to good use in the opening overs. Shadab Jakati picked the next two wickets including Herschelle Gibbs while Ashwin came back to perhaps inflict the final blow on the Chargers.

CSK gambled by dropping Justin Kemp for Muttiah Muralitharan and on a helpful pitch, the Sri Lankan off spinner bowled a tight line to strangle the runs. While Andrew Symonds stayed at the crease, the Deccan Chargers continued to harbour hopes even as the stingy bowling and intermittent wickets pushed the run rate to beyond 13. But Ashwin had Symonds caught by Murali Vijay and even though Ryan Harris tried his hand to salvage, the game had slipped past the defending champions who were bowled out for 104 after Bollinger hastened it with a four wicket haul as the Chennai Super Kings stormed into the IPL 3 finals as well as the Champions League Twenty20.

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