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The defending champions Chennai met the home team, Kings XI Punjab on a hot Mohali evening to produce one of the most memorable matches of the Indian Premier League. A brilliant 124 run partnership between Murali Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath went in vain as Punjab set Mohali on fire to score a revenge win. Needing 188 for a victory, Punjab opener Paul Valthaty (you’d do well to remember that name!) pulled off what can only be described as a ‘Kevin O’ Brien’ to hammer 120 runs from just 63 deliveries to see his team home with 5 balls to spare.

Adam Gilchrist won the toss and put the Chennai Super Kings in to bat on what promised to be a sporting pitch in Mohali. The Chennai Super Kings fielded the same side that produced a miraculous win in their first encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Kings XI Punjab were hammered in their first match against Yuvraj Singh’s Pune Warriors but they chose to retain pretty much the same side. The only change came in the form of Ryan Harris who replaced compatriot Nathan Rimmington after the latter’s forgettable IPL debut.

The Chennai Super Kings lambasted the Punjab bowling attack producing 188 runs in 19 overs after Praveen Kumar’s venomous first over double-wicket maiden. Subramaniam Badrinath and Murali Vijay, now dubbed the ‘Chemical Brothers’, put together a 124 run partnership for the third wicket that took the men in yellow from 0-2 to 124-3!

Murali Vijay, the more aggressive of the two, scored 74 in just 43 balls smashing 4 sixes and 6 fours along the way before getting stumped off Piyush Chawla. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni then made sure Punjab’s coffin was on the verge of being nailed by scoring 43 off just 20 balls that included 4 fours and 2 sixes, one of which was a – wait for it - helicopter shot!

Praveen Kumar shocked the Super Kings in the first two balls dismissing the dangerous Anirudha Srikkanth and Suresh Raina with two patent deliveries, the ball swinging like nobody's business. The two Ryans, McLaren and Harris bowled reasonably and Punjab were very much in the match even as Vijay and Badrinath started to build a partnership. The three slower bowlers - Chawla, Abhishek Nayar and Bhargav Bhatt - were impartially hammered and Chawla’s economy rate of 11 was the best among the three!

Ryan McLaren and Kumar bowled disastrous second spells to a rampaging Dhoni and a well set Badrinath, suitably altering their figures. Ryan Harris was the only one who was able to, atleast partially, dictate terms to the batsmen and he finished with an impressive 4-0-25-1 picking the wicket of Dhoni on the last ball of the innings.

Needing to score at over nine an over for a victory, the Punjab openers Paul Valthaty and Adam Gilchrist got the team off to a brilliant start. R Ashwin and Tim Southee who opened the bowling for the Super Kings were belted around the park by an inspired Valthaty, as Gilchrist, to everyone’s surprise, played second fiddle. Gilchrist scored 19 off 15 balls before flicking an Albie Morkel delivery straight to Suraj Randiv. Valthaty was undeterred and went on complete his 50 off just 23 deliveries in the very next over as Punjab finished the powerplay at 65/1.Valthaty went on to partner Marsh and then Sunny Singh to create essential pockets of scoring where the runs kept coming in the middle overs at a good rate. Marsh was run out due to an unfortunate mid-pitch calling confusion, scoring 12 off 14 balls. Sunny Singh played the aggressor for a brief while scoring a critical 20 off 11 balls and was eventually caught going for a bit hit off Randiv. Abhishek Nayar, who had a torrid session with the ball, was trapped in front of his stumps by Southee on the very next delivery and Chennai Super Kings seemed to be clawing back in trademark fashion.

Dinesh Karthik was the new man at the crease and Dhoni began to look dangerously calm. This is what should have followed: Brilliant second spells by seamers and a cheeky part-timer getting Valthaty’s wicket. Valthaty, however, decided he would have none of that and aided by a confident Dinesh Karthik, finished off the match on the first ball of the final over having early brought up his maiden IPL century in just 51 balls. He was to remain unbeaten for 120.

On a uniformly bad day for bowlers, 27-year old Paul Valthaty with a record 19 boundaries turned out to be the difference between the two teams. The result brings both teams level on 2 points in mid-table with Punjab next facing tournament minnows Deccan Chargers on Saturday the 16th of April for another away game.  Chennai Super Kings will meet Royal Challengers Banglore on the same day, only four hours earlier. Can Chennai turn things around for themselves in this home match? Well, of course, as Dhoni would say!

Teams:

CSK: S Anirudha, M Vijay, SK Raina, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni, SB Styris, JA Morkel, R Ashwin, SB Jakati, TG Southee, S Randiv

KXIP: AC Gilchrist, SE Marsh, KD Karthik, Sunny Singh, AM Nayar, PC Valthaty, R McLaren, P Kumar, RJ Harris, PP Chawla, BA Bhatt

Mini Scorecard:

Chennai Super Kings 188/4 (20 overs, 9.4rpo)
M Vijay 74 (43) P Kumar 2-37
S Badrinath 66* (56) R Harris 1-25

Kings XI Punjab 193/4 (19.1 overs, 10.06rpo)
P Valthaty 120 (63) S Randiv 1-32
D Karthik 21(11) T Southee 1-33

File Photograph Copyright: Michael Henn

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