Raina-Charged CSK Make Dolphins Cry

Chennai Super Kings, inspired by Suresh Raina's furious 90 from 43 balls, eased to a 54-run win over Dolphins on Monday night at Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium to move upwards from the bottom of the Group A points table and get their 2014 Champions League Twenty20 campaign up and running.

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In total, CSK smacked 16 sixes and 17 fours to rattle along to a massive total of 242 for 6 - second only to the 246 they scored against Rajasthan Royals in the 2010 IPL. Not surprisingly, it was all too much for Dolphins' hit-and-miss batsmen, though they did give CSK a scare as they sped to the quickest team 50 in CLT20 history. South Africa's domestic T20 champions did well to get to 115 for 3 by the half-way mark, but the second ten overs of their innings was worth 6 for 73.

After the Powerplay, 70 for 1. At the halfway mark, 109 for 2. After 20 overs, 242 for 6. This is hardly what Dolphins captain Morne van Wyk would have hoped for after he put CSK in to bat. Between the first over, in which left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj dismissed Dwayne Smith, and the 20th, which saw pacer Kyle Abbott concede just five singles, CSK looted 228 runs at a rate of 12.66. Of those, 90 came off 43 balls to Raina, whose blistering innings contained eight sixes as he crossed 5000 runs in T20 cricket. And therein was the foundation of CSK's success.

The T20 superstar briefly played second fiddle to Brendon McCullum, who launched a stinging assault on the bowling as he tore into Craig Alexander and Abbott, but once he started to tee off it was bad news for Dolphins. Raina was on 17 off 12 balls balls when McCullum was 45 off 23, but soon caught up. He drew level with McCullum on the sixes tally with a couple off Andile Phehlukwayo in the seventh over, then went one ahead with another off a Robbie Frylinck slower ball. Each of his boundary shots resonated with a ferocity rarely associated with Raina, and you got the feeling something special was brewing.

Though McCullum fell to Khaya Zondo for 49, he had helped CSK draw level with the quickest century stand in the CLT20, achieved, not surprisingly, at this same ground. Raina did not blink at the departure of his partner, hitting Zondo out of the attack as he galloped to his half-century in 27 balls. Maharaj returned and was effortlessly hit for two sixes, each with deft footwork and a beautiful follow-through; Daryn Smit was swung over long-on for Raina's eighth maximum. He was eventually out to the first ugly shot played, and Frylinck added another in the over when he yorked MS Dhoni first ball.

Faf du Plessis, whose contribution to the stand of 65 with Raina was 11, clattered three fours and a six revive CSK and Ravindra Jadeja smoked 24 off five balls in a partnership of 32 in 11 with Dwayne Bravo (11). Jadeja's 14-ball 40 was part muscle and part placement and lifted CSK to a winning total.

Left with a mountain to climb, Dolphins took 20 off the first over bowled by Ashish Nehra, with left-hander Cameron Delport hitting two fours and a six. The second over produced 16 for the loss of van Wyk (17 off 7) though the Dolphins captain had reason to feel aggrieved after being given lbw by umpire K Srinath to a ball from R Ashwin that clearly pitched outside leg stump. Delport's approach of making room and slicing hard yielded a six and three fours off Mohit Sharma, as Dolphins achieved the fastest team 50 in tournament history (15 balls), but the riposte was short-lived. Playing from the crease, Delport missed a slower one from Mohit and was bowled for a nine-ball 34.

Cody Chetty took a liking to Jadeja's left-arm spin and Dolphins finished the Powerplay block on 85 for 2, but too many attempts to hit out meant chances for the fielders. Maharaj slogged at Mohit and missed and Chetty (38) picked out deep midwicket off Dwayne Bravo, allowing CSK room to breathe. From here, Dolphins lost in a slew of cross-batted hits and frenetic running, bowled out for 188 in 20 overs. Mohit finished with very credible figures of 4 for 41 after conceding 20 in his first five deliveries.

Brief scores: CSK 242 for 6 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 90, Brendon McCullum 49, Ravindra Jadeja 40*) beat Dolphins 188 in 20 overs (Cody Chetty 38, Cameron Delport 34; Mohit Sharma 4/41, Dwayne Bravo 2/16) by 54 runs