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Chennai Super Kings, the champions of the Indian Premier League, got off to a winning start in the Champions League T20 with a comfortable 57 run victory over Central Districts, New Zealand's domestic Twenty20 champions. The Kiwi side started well with the ball, getting a couple of early wickets to put Chennai on the back foot. But Subramaniam Badrinath steadied Chennai's innings with an unbeaten half-century. He got solid support from Anirudh Srikanth and Albie Morkel, and that helped Chennai reach a respectable total of 151 at the end of their 20 overs. Central Districts never looked to be on the right track while chasing as they lost their top five batsmen within eight overs. It was a comfortable win for Chennai in the end as the Stags were bowled out for just 94 in 18.1 overs. It was a thoroughly professional performance from the Super Kings and barring the first five overs or so, they were in complete control.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss for Chennai Super Kings and decided to bat first. Matthew Hayden and Muttiah Muralitharan, both of whom have retired from international cricket, were in the playing XI for Chennai. The Central Districts had the likes of Matthew Sinclair, Jamie How, Peter Ingram and Michael Mason in their side, all of whom have represented New Zealand in international cricket. The loss of Jacob Oram before the start of the tourney was undoubtedly a big blow but despite that they seemed to be a decent enough outfit that had the potential of putting up a tough fight.

Mason gave Central Districts the perfect start, getting Hayden for a first ball duck in the very first over. Things got better for the Kiwi champions when Suresh Raina (4) gloved a short delivery from Adam Milne to second slip. Badrinath walked out and joined Murali Vijay at 5 for 2. The duo couldn't afford to take too many chances and they tried to play themselves in. The bowlers did well to maintain the pressure and they made the batsmen work hard for their runs. The Super Kings crawled to 28 for 2 at the end of the six powerplay overs.

Vijay had consumed a fair number of balls while trying to settle down and it was important for him to hang around and make up for that. But he failed to do so as Doug Bracewell had him caught at first slip for 19. The youngster Anirudh Srikanth walked in ahead of his skipper with the team in all sorts of trouble. Badrinath had got his eye in by then and being the senior batsman out in the middle he needed to keep going. Badrinath showed the first signs of aggression when he hit Mitchell McClenaghan for a boundary and a six in the eleventh over, taking Chennai past fifty in the process.

Srikanth too had played himself in and he joined Badrinath in the attack as the duo started to push the scoring rate. Bracewell was the next bowler to face the music when Badrinath hit him for a six over mid-wicket before guiding him down gently to the third-man boundary. Srikanth got stuck into Mason in the 15th over of the innings and took fourteen runs off it, including a beautifully timed six over extra cover. That over brought up the fifty run partnership and took the Super Kings past the 100-run barrier. With five overs still to play and with two set batsmen out in the middle, the Super Kings had their eyes set on a total around 150. Srikanth kept going after the bowlers until Bracewell found the outside edge of his bat and the keeper, Bevan Griggs, held on to a comfortable catch. He departed for a well made 42 off just 29 deliveries.

Albie Morkel is the ideal man to come in when you have just over three overs to go. And he took no time whatsoever to get going. He upper-cut a ball to the third man boundary and followed it with two big sixes in the next six deliveries. Badrinath reached a well-deserved half-century with a boundary on the penultimate ball of the innings and a couple off the final delivery took the Super Kings to 151 for 4 at the end of their 20 overs. It was a good recovery from the IPL Champions after losing two big wickets in the first couple of overs. Badrinath played a responsible knock and did well to hang around till the end. Srikanth chipped in with a useful cameo and Morkel finished off the innings in style. The Central Districts had a few batsmen with international experience in their line-up, but the chase was not going to be easy considering the fact the Chennai attack had the likes of Doug Bollinger and Muralitharan.

Bollinger could have had Ingram on the third ball of the innings, but Ravichandran Ashwin failed to hold on to a difficult chance running back from mid-wicket. Bollinger and Morkel bowled a tight line with the new ball and didn't allow the batting side to get away easily. Ingram (6) failed to capitalise on the opportunity presented to him. He top-edged Morkel high up in the air and the ball came down into the safe hands of Raina. Jamie How was fortunate though as two balls later Raina failed to cling on to a sitter at cover. And to add insult to injury, How pulled Morkel over the fine-leg boundary on the very next delivery. Lakshmipathy Balaji was introduced into the attack after a two over spell from Bollinger and he struck with his third delivery, getting George Worker (4) caught at mid-on. Dhoni brought Ashwin on in the last over of the powerplay. Sinclair lofted his first delivery for a straight six but the bowler came back well and took out How's (13) off-stump on the penultimate ball of the powerplay.

The Kiwi Champions were in a spot of bother at 35 for 3 after the first six overs. And things got worse when Muralitharan struck twice in his first over. Sinclair (10) was the first to go, expertly caught at first-slip by Hayden and he was followed by Kieran Noema-Barnett (0) who got a thin edge that was taken by the keeper. A maiden from Balaji didn't help a lot as Central Districts reached 43 at the end of 10 overs with half the side back in the pavilion. The required run-rate was almost eleven runs an over and the Super Kings seemed to have the game under control.

Ashwin came back into the attack for a second spell and he struck yet again, getting Brendon Diamanti (4) stumped with an arm-ball. Griggs was having a tough time out in the middle and he found it difficult to even rotate the strike on a regular basis. Muralitharan nearly had a third wicket when Bracewell lofted him straight down the throat of long-on but fortunately for the batsman, the bowler had over-stepped. With Griggs struggling, Bracewell tried his best to get some runs for his team. He swept Ashwin out of the park and found the gaps in the outfield on a couple of occasions. Central Districts were left to get a highly improbable 79 runs to win in the last five overs.

Griggs' (9) struggle finally came to an end when he edged Bollinger to the keeper. The curtains came down on Bracewell's (30) little cameo when he played Balaji onto his stumps. Balaji got his third wicket with the final delivery of his spell as Mason (6) went for the big shot and the ball went straight to Bollinger at third man. Bollinger wrapped things up with the first delivery of the 19th over when he found the outside edge McClenaghan's (0) bat and Hayden pulled off a beauty a first slip. The Kiwi outfit had been bowled out for 94 and in the end it looked to be a bit too easy for the Super Kings.

Badrinath was awarded the man of the match for his well paced knock that had rescued Chennai from a tricky situation. He and Srikanth put up 73-runs for the fourth wicket and that's what turned the match in Chennai's favour after the Central Districts bowlers had pegged them back with a couple of early wickets. Chennai were in total control during the second innings and none of the batsmen were able to go after the bowlers. Central Districts lost wickets in heaps and that's what cost them the match. They will definitely be looking to brush up that aspect of their game before their next match against the Victoria Bushrangers on Wednesday, the 15th of September. Dhoni will be pretty happy with the team's performance and another victory in the next match against Wayamba on Wednesday will edge them closer to a semi-final berth.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Murali Vijay, Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath, Anirudh Srikanth, Albie Morkel, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt. & wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Muttiah Muralitharan, Doug Bollinger, Lakshmipati balaji

Central Districts: Peter Ingram, Jamie How (capt.), George Worker, Matthew Sinclair, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Bevan Griggs (wk), Brendon Diamanti, Doug Bracewell, Adam Milne, Michael Mason, Mitchell McClenaghan

Mini Scorecard

Chennai Super Kings 151 for 4 (20 overs, 7.55 rpo)

S Badrinath 52* (42)             D Bracewell 2-28
A Srikanth 42 (29)                 A Milne 1-28

Central Districts 94 all out (18.1 overs, 5.17 rpo)

D Bracewell 30 (28)              L Balaji 3-20
J How 13 (17)                       D Bollinger 2-10

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File Photograph Copyright: Michael Henn

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