ACLT20: Warriors batting fails to impress against Chennai Super Kings; contained to 128
The Warriors had started in perfect style after http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Ashwin-c2228 who was trapped in front as the ball turned towards
leg stump. This is a shot that he has played previously as well, very succesfully.
The adventurous uncanny spirit surely has been his calling card, and has achieved a lot of success with that approach. But tonight this approach certainly hurt his team. After Jacobs wicket fell, Muttiah Muralitharan managed to
suffocate the Warriors with his crafty spin, and Balaji bowled superbly to maintain pressure with a very disciplined spell, containing the Warriors to 128.
One failing aspect of the Warriors is that their batting is perhaps not as deep as that of the Chennai Super Kings and hence the middle order chose to play safely as Chennai closed in on them greatly intimidating the opposition
with their excellent performance. Balaji most certainly was growing in confidence and enjoying the way Warriors were approaching him warily making the most out of it. Taking advantage of the nervy middle order, Balaji managed to slip in some quiet overs with
his consistent line and length.
Ashwin continued to tease the opposition with his bowling variation, however on the other hand http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 kept his variation and doosras to a minimum. Success knocked on Murali’s door when Mark Boucher fell prey to the
predatory bowling of Murali who bowled him out. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Justin-Kreusch-c1751 also could not cope with Murali and hit straight to mid wicket.
There was a little moment of brilliance in the 17th over when Craig Thyssen, about whom Jacobs had said, “Fast cars and big shots, that’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Thyssen-c1291”, went after Balaji picking up three boundaries which included a
four, another delicate late steer and then slogged the ball for a six over mid wicket. The home supporters had finally started to find their voice as well, but it proved to be too little too late in the day for the Warriors. Their target seems to be insufficient
to hold back the mighty Chennai Super Kings, and they will have to come up with a brilliant bowling display if they want to see themselves holding the trophy.
By the time the innings was half way down, Jacobs blitz in the very beginning seemed like something out of the distant past. He moves around with great agility ripping through shots with what could be termed slaughterhouse finality;
smashing Doug Bollinger, Albie Morkel and others to all parts of the ground. He was raw at times, however he mixed that with boundaries scored with some very crafty upper cuts and neat cover drives. It remains to be seen how the Chennai Super Kings will react
to the relatively unimpressive total of 128 considering Dhoni’s thirst for a win in the final.
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