Earlier, a brutal 100-run partnership in 7.5 overs between Matthew Hayden and skipper M.S. Dhoni took Chennai Super Kings to 185 for three in the rain-hit encounter. Rain reduced the match to 18 overs-a-side, before the target was adjusted to 187. Punjab finished at 174 for for three in 18 overs. Yuvraj Singh (58) and M. Jayawardene (44) were the unbeaten batsmen. Simon Katich made a 25-ball 50.
Belligerent knockHayden hammered 89 runs in 58 balls with eight fours and six sixes. The left-hander’s belligerence hit a high in the 17th over, when he plundered three sixes — a swivel effort for maximum, a ferocious swing over fine-leg and a full-toss clobbered over mid-wicket — off S. Sreesanth. Hayden’s explosive batting left Punjab bereft of ideas. Earlier, Chennai’s start was troubled after Dhoni won the toss. S. Badrinath joined a curiously high number of first-ball victims this season.
Irfan Pathan pitched it wide and the opener cut it to V.R.V. Singh at third man. Despite that, Hayden and Suresh Raina batted undeterred. Raina lofted Pathan for a six and struck two more boundaries in the over.
V.R.V. Singh’s poor length was punished by Hayden with a six over long-off. Off-spinner Karan Goel very nearly dismissed the left-hander when he was on 32, after the batsman charged down and was beaten. But wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara spilled an easy chance.
Very quickly, Hayden brushed it off with a brutal cut through point for a boundary. Chennai seemed to have its momentum robbed when rain came down hard in the eighth over. After play resumed, Raina perished to a short ball from leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, with Goel taking the catch at mid-wicket. The wicket gave way for the lethal partnership between Hayden and Dhoni.
With an eye on the weather, Dhoni began scoring instantly with a powerful boundary through covers and a sweep shot that fetched him as many, both off Goel.
Chawla efforts were wasted on a rampant Hayden. The left-hander cleared mid-wicket for maximum, following it up with a tremendous hit over the square-leg boundary.
Source:http://www.hindu.com/2009
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