Hyderabad: Chennai Super Kings did not have any hiccups in their quest for a semi-final berth, beating Hyderabad Deccan Chargers by a solid seven-wicket margin. The win ended Mumbai Indians' faint hopes of making the knockout stage.
For Hyderabad, it was never going to be a moment to cherish, as they ended the Indian Premier League with a poor record of 12 defeats and only two wins. Their ambition of scoring a win at home never came true.
The last-over end belied the level of comfort that Chennai had. It however went on to prove Hyderabad's fragility when it comes to finishing off things. They have lost seven close games, which was quite symptomatic.
Though neither Chennai opener, Parthiv Patel and Stephen Fleming, could really get things off the ground, the middle-order made sure that there was no case a surprise hitting them at the wrong time. Suresh Raina kept one side up after the openers had departed, and his efficient stand with the aggressive Mahendra Singh Dhoni ensured that there were no alarms.
Raina remained unbeaten on 54 off 43 ball with five boundaries and two sixes, while Dhoni was in his usual form, cracking 37 off 25 balls with four boundaries and one six.
After the 55-run third wicket stand between Raina and Dhoni ended, Albie Morkel came in to carry the innings to its completion, to add to his two wickets in the first innings.
The Hyderabad team did not get too much from their bowlers, with the medium-pacers at no stage looking like keeping them in the game.
While Patel and Fleming went due to some pressure, at no stage did the hosts ever look like creating enough inroads.
Dhoni could have been caught first ball, but that did not happen, and Hyderabad were never in business.
Earlier, Hyderabad did not get the start they were looking after skipper Adam Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field.
They lost Herschelle Gibbs pretty early, and then Gilchrist fell, and their assault threatened to peter out undramatically.
But they found a good pair in Venugopal Rao, who has come to his own as a batsman, and Ravi Teja, as they put up 76 runs with Hyderabad struggling at 57-3.
Venugopal Rao finished with a fine 46, while Teja scored 40.
But both fell in the 19th over, along with Arjun Yadav, and that surely dented their final total.
Earlier, Hyderabad captain Adam Gilchrist, hamstrung by the absence of Rohit Sharma, won the toss and decided to bat.
The Teams:
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist, Arjun Yadav, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, Scott Styris, Venugopal Rao, Ravi Teja, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Vijaykumar, Sarvesh Kumar.
Chennai Super Kings: Parthiv Patel, Stephen Fleming, Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), S Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund, Manpreet Gony, L Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini.
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