As it happened: Super Kings vs Warriors at Chennai

Pune 151-7 after 20 overs Kumar 2, Kartik 4 It was never going to happen once the Warriors needed 17 from two deliveries. This one just got away from them due to the failure of forging a partnership. Great last over from Bravo though, who kept his cool at a time when so many other matches have been thrown away. Pune go back after this thinking what went wrong but for CSK, this is a much needed victory. Pune 144-7 after 19.1 overs Angelo Mathews b Bravo 27 (22b 1x4 0x6) Mathews shapes up to hit it past fine-leg, misses a yorker length delivery and the ball takes the leg stump with it….what a wicket. Pune 141-6 after 18.2 overs Steve Smith  c du Plessis b Bollinger 23 (21b 0x4 0x6) Smith must have reached a breaking point without a single boundary in his innings. He swats one but it goes high into the air and fails clearing the ropes…good catch from Du Plessis. Pune need some big hits now. [caption id=“attachment_281766” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Pune lost wickets at regular intervals. AFP”]  [/caption] Pune 140-5 after 18 overs Mathews 24, Smith 23 Pune are doing it without the big shots! Mathews and Smith have played some good shots and expertly run between the wickets to deny CSK a comfortable win. Pune 124-5 after 16 overs Mathews 16, Smith 14 Pune still trying hard to get some quick runs on board but they will have to do it the tough way: by running between the wickets. There has been only one boundary since the last wicket when Mathews takes advantage of a free hit and thumps one past mid-wicket for four. Pune 97-5 after 13.2 overs Marlon Samuels c Kulasekara b Ashwin 26 (24b 2x4 1x6) Samuels just had to go for the big one. He tries to drive but it is uppish and taken at short cover. He did not go without hitting a six though, the big man. A top edge over fine-leg ensured of that. Pune 85-4 after 12 overs Samuels 20, Smith 5 Pune are finding it as hard if not harder than Chennai in the quest for boundaries. Samuels has smacked a couple of fours but it is still risky to go for the big ones. Pune have a tough choice on whether to preserve their wickets for the death overs or start pinch-hitting now. Pune 64-4 after 9.4 overs Sourav Ganguly c Kulasekara b Jakati 24 (26b 4x4 0x6) Pune have scored less than what CSK had at this stage but have lost four times the wickets. Ganguly decides to take on Jakati but does not connect well…it’s a sitter for Kulasekara at mid-on. Pune 59-3 after 8 overs Ganguly 23, Samuels 2 It has slowed down a bit as Ganguly courts caution rather than embarking on a risky road. Pune have scored pretty much at the same rate as CSK but they have lost more wickets and need to forge a partnership now. Pune 53-3 after 6.1 overs Manish Pandey c Badrinath b Bravo 13 (6b 0x4 1x6) Pandey hit a six earlier from Ashwin’s off-spin but Bravo is a bit quicker and his pace surprises him. He still attempts going over long-off but Badrinath takes a great catch to dismiss him. Pune 53-2 after 6 overs Ganguly 20, Pandey 13 Ganguly is off in no time, cracking three boundaries in style. Two of those are flicked away towards the leg-side and the other is pulled away in the same area. He has been given a packed off-side but it does not matter. Pune 26-2 after 3.4 overs Jesse Ryder c Bravo b Kulasekara 9 (10b 2x4 0x6) Ryder has been in great touch this tournament and a perfect bookish straight drive gave an indication of another good knock. But just as he tries to score fast over mid-wicket, he sees a dancing West Indian rather than the ball clearing the ropes. Great catch from Bravo and a great celebration too. Commentator says: “That is the West Indian haka.” Pune 13-1 after 1.2 overs Robin Uthappa c Ashwin b Kulasekara 8 (5b 2x4 0x6) Looked like these two were set for another long partnership after Uthappa quickly scored a couple of boundaries. He tries to score big again with a straight drive but cannot middle and a diving Ashwin takes a brilliant catch. Pune Warriors come out to bat CSK 164-5 after 20 overs Ravindra Jadeja c Sharma b Samuels 7 (3b 0x4 1x6) Dhoni has lit up the stadium in those last two overs. Nehra lucky not to have been an inch closer to the ball as Dhoni clubs a boundary straight past him. He then executes the famous helicopter shot to literally clear the stadium before flicking away a four. Jadeja also getting into the thick of it with a quality six before trying the same off the last ball—only to be caught by Sharma in the deep. CSK 142-4 after 18.5 overs Dwayne Bravo c Mathews b Nehra 12 There was no doubt Dhoni and Bravo were going to hit every ball that came their way. Bravo gets lucky once as he smashes a six over long-on while Dhoni deals in the singles. He tries it again but is caught at long-off. CSK 119-3 after 16.3 overs Suresh Raina c Kartik b Nehra 0 (2b 0x4 0x6) Raina hooks a short delivery straight to fine-leg. CSK’s highly rated batsmen suddenly dropping like flies. CSK 116-2 after 15.5 overs S Badrinath c Mathews b Samuels 57 (48b 8x4 0x6) Another one bites the dust! Badrinath slogs one straight to long-on. Easy-peasy. CSK 116-1 after 15.3 overs Faf Du Plessis c Mathews b Samuels 58 (48b 4x4 2x6) Now we are seeing some action! First a huge six from Du Plessis after charging down the track and then a hat-trick of fours for Badrinath after he was dropped by Ganguly. The skipper extended his arm while running to the ball and took a heavy fall. But Du Plessis finally gives in to the pressure and smacks one over square leg where Mathews takes a good catch. CSK 89-0 after 13 overs Du Plessis 51, Badrinath 37 Just one boundary in the last couple of overs but the talking point remains that the umpire gave not out to Du Plessis when it seemed that his bat was on the line after rushing in from an attempted single. It was not clear whether the bails were off or not but maybe that is why the batsman was given the benefit of doubt. CSK 74-0 after 11 overs Du Plessis 39, Badrinath 34 CSK trying very hard to clear the ropes and get their run-rate up but it has been surprisingly tight considering this is Twenty20 we are watching. Rahul Sharma has gone for only 10 runs in his two overs and Nehra has given just six runs from his two overs. Incredible. CSK 64-0 after 9 overs Du Plessis 34, Badrinath 29 The pressure is high on CSK to score and Badrinath and Du Plessis decide to take a few risks in the 8th and 9th over. The former sweeps one towards the ropes before drumming another one over mid-on for four more. Sharma, who has bowled so well also goes for a boundary as Du Plessis comes down the ground and sends his shot through the covers for another boundary. [caption id=“attachment_281454” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“It’s Dhoni vs Dada as CSK host Pune at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium. AFP”]  [/caption] CSK 43-0 after 7 overs Du Plessis 23, Badrinath 19 A glorious six from Du Plessis over long-on must have eased the pressure on CSK, but they still haven’t reached the 50-run mark even after 7 overs. Pune’s bowlers have maintained a terrific line and length and the field placement seems spot-on. The previous over from Sharma was worth just one run. CSK 28-0 after 5 overs Du Plessis 12, Badrinath 16 Now the boundaries are coming. Badrinath, promoted up the order has smashed a couple of fours from Marlon Samuels’ over— one lifted over mid-off and the other cut away past point. Still, CSK need to accelerate their innings. CSK 9-0 after 3 overs Du Plessis 3, Badrinath 6 Very tight over from Nehra. Ganguly must be asking himself why he did not bowl like that when they were nearing a victory against RCB in their last match.  Kartik on the other end is getting some sharp turn. If he invites the batsman to come down the track and he misses, then that might be a wicket. He has been very disciplined too. CSK 6-0 after 1 over Du Plessis 1, Badrinath 5 No jitters for Badrinath as he cuts away Murali Kartik to get a boundary in the first over itself. Nehra has been brought into the attack for Pune. Ravindra Jadeja has just been spotted in the dug-out with the letters ‘CSK’ carved in his hair Pune have won the toss and will bowl first Chennai Super Kings: Wriddhiman Saha, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yo Mahesh, Doug Bollinger Pune Warriors: Robin Uthappa, Jesse Ryder, Sourav Ganguly, Marlon Samuels, Angelo Mathews, Steve Smith, Mithun Manhas, Bipul Kumar, Murali Kartik, Rahul Sharma, Ashish Nehra