Dhoni praises Chennai batsmen for victory over Daredevils – Cricket News Update
Chennai Super Kings skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 lauded the efforts of his batsmen for enabling his side to secure an emphatic 86-run victory over the Delhi Daredevils during the Indian Premier League’s second qualifier on May 25 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk.
“It was up to the individuals, Vijay and Hussey gave us a good start, we are a side that relies a lot on good starts,” he said.
“It good to see (Suresh) Raina hitting a few balls away and in the end it was closed off well by Bravo.”
The Super Kings, who have been IPL champions twice before, fluctuated in terms of performance throughout the league stage of the tournament, but came into the playoffs fighting. After securing a 38-run win over the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Indians in the first elimination
match, they knocked the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 Daredevils out of the tournament, securing a place for themselves in the final which is due to be played against the Kolkata Knight Riders on May 27.
Their victory owed largely to the team’s powerful batting display. Openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 (20) set up a 68-run stand, which got the team off to a solid start, and the 28-year-old right-hander stuck it out at the crease till the very
last over.
Raina, who has had an erratic season so far, managed 27 off 17 deliveries, and established a 69-run stand with Vijay. The innings were finished off by a 33-run contribution by Bravo, and the team racked up a formidable 222 total (the highest team total in
the IPL so far) at the expense of 5 wickets by the end of their 20 overs.
However, despite having a solid batting line-up the Daredevils were unable to chase the 223 target, and Dhoni admitted that he had been convinced they had the batting line-up to do it.
“Personally, I thought they had had line-up to do it but it was not going to be easy. It was a good wicket to bat initially and it was pretty good in the second half also,” Dhoni observed.
Mahela Jayawardene’s 55 remained the highest individual score on the Daredevils’ side, and Virender Sehwag’s men found themselves all out at 136 by the 17th over, consequently failing to qualify for the IPL final.
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