Moises,one-man army

Scores 23-ball 49 and picks up three wickets as Sixers defeat Super Kings by 14 runs

Having propelled Sydney Sixers to a 180-plus score with an unbeaten 23-ball 49,Moises Henriques took three wickets to help his side defeat Chennai Super Kings by 14 runs in their Champions League Twenty20 opener at the Wanderers. Having struck three sixes and five fours as Sydney scored 48 off their last three overs,Henriques dented Chennai8217;s chase with the vital wickets of Suresh Raina,S Badrinath and skipper MS Dhoni,with the Sydney fielders assisting him magnificently with two of those scalps.

Chennai were on course till the 16th over,needing 50 runs from the last four overs before Raina,who top-scored with an impressive 33-ball 57 which included eight fours and two sixes fell in the 17th over. Steven Smith took a stunning catch holding on to a high ball just inches from the ropes. Dhoni was out two balls later, his pull shot held by Josh Hazlewood,who dived forward to pouch a superb catch.

Chennai had two substantial partnerships in their run chase 61 for the second wicket between Faf du Plessis 43 and Michael Hussey 16 and then the 55-run stand for the fourth wicket between Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath 6.

They began slowly in their run chase and they were dealt with a blow as Murali Vijay was out for just one in the second over. At three for one,Chennai had to settle down for a while but they did not take much time to launch their attack with du Plessis and Hussey finding the boundaries to keep the asking rate under control. Du Plessis punished Mitchel Starc with a six in the fourth over while Hussey also found a boundary as Chennai took 12 runs from that over. Du Plessis then smashed three fours off Pat Cummins in the next over which yielded 13 runs before launching Hazlewood for a six and a then a four in the seventh over.

It was an even contest till then,but Chennai lost two quick wickets in successive overs with du Plessis and Hussey departing in quick succession in the eighth and ninth overs respectively.

Chennai were 73 for three at the halfway mark with the asking rate climbing to 11 and a half per over. In response,Raina hit a six and four from an over off O8217;Keefe and Henriques while also smashing two boundaries off Shane Watson. Chennai needed 61 runs from the last five overs and 50 from the last four but the dismissals of Raina and Dhoni,who scored just eight, ended their hopes.

Earlier,Henriquess onslaught took the Sixers from 124 for four at the end of 16th over to 185 for five.

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He was joined for a brief period by Smith 26 off 17 balls. The duo shared 75 runs for the fifth wicket from just 6.3 overs. Shane Watson was instrumental in a solid start for the Sixers with a 30-ball 46 which included five fours and two sixes as he and Michael Lumb 18 were involved in a quick 50-run stand in 6.1 overs for the opening wicket.

But the run rate slowed down once Watson was out and the Sixers were 82 for six at halfway mark. They were then jolted by a double dismissal of captain Brad Haddin 20 and Nic Maddinson 12 8212; in the 14th over before Henriques8217; stunning show saved them.

Brief scores: Sydney Sixers: 185 for 5 in 20 overs Shane Watson 46,Moises Henriques 49 not out; R Ashwin 2/32 vs Chennai Super Kings: 171 for 9 in 20 overs Suresh Raina 57,Faf du Plessis 43; Moises Henriques 3/23,Mitchell Starc 3/31