Slinga slog shocks CSK

Batting at No.9,Mumbais Malinga turns the tables on defending champions with 18-ball 37.

Theres a certain formula that the Chennai Super Kings like adhering to. Some of their tense chases might be more memorable,but MS Dhonis ideal day out in yellow involves winning the toss,batting first,building a solid 10-over platform before lifting off to a challenging total,with spin playing a large part in its defence. Chennais Champions League campaign got off to a start that ticked off more or less each of these criteria. Until Lasith Malinga intervened,that is.

Mumbai Indians were 113 for seven with four overs to go and 47 required. Harbhajan Singh drilled Shadab Jakatis first ball down to long on for a single to bring Malinga on strike. The next two balls landed in the crowd,once over long on,once over long off. Chepauk suddenly went a little quiet. Mumbai took six from the next over,bowled by Doug Bollinger. Albie Morkel then sent down two wides,with the batsmen hurriedly crossing over off the second to bring Malinga back on strike. Bang. Malinga aimed straight,and cleared long off once more. Fourteen came off that over,leaving Mumbai 11 to get from the final over.

Harbhajan took a single off the first ball. Bollinger bounded in again; Malinga stepped away from the stumps and carved it behind point; four. Another single; five to get from three. Bollinger dropped the next one short; Harbhajan swatted it merrily to the leg side fence. Another squirted single into the leg side,and upraised arms for the stand-in Mumbai skipper.

Par-plus score

For CSK,almost everything had gone to plan till then. Conditions werent entirely conducive to meaty hitting,so the par-plus score a phrase Dhoni loves was 150 rather than 180. With Mike Husseys consummate innings-building skills on full display,Chennai went past this number with ease.

On a sluggish wicket Hussey later revealed,wired up to the commentary box while fielding,that driving through the line had been a challenge the Australian left-hander was the only top-order batsman on either side to really dominate. While the wicket might have made Hussey relatively judicious in driving on the up,it had little impact on the rest of his strokes. In fact,his range only seemed to broaden,as evidenced by a clinically timed late dab off Kieron Pollard that bisected short third man and a wide-ish point,and a lap-sweep that saw a low,86mph full-toss from Lasith Malinga scream to the fine leg fence. In all,he struck eight fours and three sixes,and departed with Chennai well in sight of the par-plus total.

Lively start

Mumbais response began in lively manner,with Blizzard and Davy Jacobs putting on 39 in just under five overs. They clubbed two fours each,off Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel,as Dhoni opted to begin with pace from both ends. Ravichandran Ashwin,Man of the Tournament in the 2010 edition of this event,came on in the third over,and struck in the fifth,slipping one down the leg side to catch Jacobs out of his crease. Suresh Raina then sent back Blizzard,bowling the left hander with a straight one as he tried to back away and cut.

The middle order came and went. Ambati Rayudu,Tirumalasetti Suman and Andrew Symonds made 5,5 and 3. Kieron Pollard was just beginning to look dangerous having smacked two boundaries either side of Raina dropping him at deep midwicket off Jakati when he miscued a swipe off Albie Morkel to send the ball ballooning straight up in the air. When it dropped into Dhonis gloves,the CSK skipper might well have thought,job done. But the formula,for once,would fail his side.

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Brief scores: CSK 158/4 M Hussey 81,M Dhoni 22 not out,A Nechim 2/35,K Pollard 1/19; Mumbai Indians 159/ 7 L Malinga 37 not out,A Blizzard 28,S Raina 2/6,D Bravo 2/22