Like any good five-year-old, the CSK side has begun to develop a good habit. Here, it's not daily brushing or weekly nail-cutting, but an almost-yearly sojourn to the final. This time, like the others, it has been done in style, with a whopping 86-run win over table-toppers Delhi Daredevils. Murali Vijay stole the show with a blitz century, indiscriminately massacring the bowlers.
Delhi's daredevilry hit them hard - they chose to leave out influential pacer Morne Morkel and opened the batting with Warner and Jayawardene rather than with the successful duo of Warner and Sehwag. The fielding of newbie Sunny Gupta in a crunch match also rebounded as the spinner was heaved for an economy of nearly sixteen an over. Skipper Sehwag also chose to have a bowl. He will probably empathise with the bowlers he faces more as he was smacked for 21 runs.
Chennai's deep batting line-up helped - as Vijay fired on all cylinders at one end, almost everyone else pitched in at more than a run a ball from the other. Bravo's cameo in the dying overs was rather helpful. Setting a target of 222 in an important game is always helpful, and though Jayawardene and Ross Taylor looked a little good for DD, they never really looked like they were going to overhaul the mammoth total.
Hilfenhaus did well to remove countryman Warner early, and when Morkel took out Sehwag, only God could have saved DD. And he chose not to, because CSK and Vijay deserved a win for their performance. Ashwin and Jakati wrapped up the rest, with Bravo also pitching in with a wicket, and it was all over for DD after a great league stage.
Chennai will now have to deal with Kolkata Knight Riders' batting variety and good spin, particularly the unpredictable Sunil Narine. They have beaten them before, courtesy a last-ball Bravo six, so they will carry hopes. But underestimating the sparkling line-up will amount to self-destruction. Both teams should be careful in this regard.
This year's IPL has got more bad publicity than ever before. Thankfullly for its fans and organisers, no key players have been involved in fixing. But a player getting into a fight and two more attending a rave party is not the best news for them. And of course, a celebrity filmstar having to resort to bad language and violence to deal with security guards. But as Kirti Azad found out, openly criticising the IPL and fasting in protest can hurt. There is no doubt that this tournament is here to stay. And if we continue seeing great cricket like we did last night, I am perfectly okay with its staying.
Delhi's daredevilry hit them hard - they chose to leave out influential pacer Morne Morkel and opened the batting with Warner and Jayawardene rather than with the successful duo of Warner and Sehwag. The fielding of newbie Sunny Gupta in a crunch match also rebounded as the spinner was heaved for an economy of nearly sixteen an over. Skipper Sehwag also chose to have a bowl. He will probably empathise with the bowlers he faces more as he was smacked for 21 runs.
Chennai's deep batting line-up helped - as Vijay fired on all cylinders at one end, almost everyone else pitched in at more than a run a ball from the other. Bravo's cameo in the dying overs was rather helpful. Setting a target of 222 in an important game is always helpful, and though Jayawardene and Ross Taylor looked a little good for DD, they never really looked like they were going to overhaul the mammoth total.
Hilfenhaus did well to remove countryman Warner early, and when Morkel took out Sehwag, only God could have saved DD. And he chose not to, because CSK and Vijay deserved a win for their performance. Ashwin and Jakati wrapped up the rest, with Bravo also pitching in with a wicket, and it was all over for DD after a great league stage.
Chennai will now have to deal with Kolkata Knight Riders' batting variety and good spin, particularly the unpredictable Sunil Narine. They have beaten them before, courtesy a last-ball Bravo six, so they will carry hopes. But underestimating the sparkling line-up will amount to self-destruction. Both teams should be careful in this regard.
This year's IPL has got more bad publicity than ever before. Thankfullly for its fans and organisers, no key players have been involved in fixing. But a player getting into a fight and two more attending a rave party is not the best news for them. And of course, a celebrity filmstar having to resort to bad language and violence to deal with security guards. But as Kirti Azad found out, openly criticising the IPL and fasting in protest can hurt. There is no doubt that this tournament is here to stay. And if we continue seeing great cricket like we did last night, I am perfectly okay with its staying.
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