Steve Smith sets target, Bhuvaneswar and Dinda kill chase

Pune Warriors 159 for 5 (Finch 67, Smith 39*, Morris 2-25) beat Chennai Super Kings 135 for 8 (Badrinath 34, Bhuvneshwar 2-12) by 24 runs

Aaron Finch’s brilliant half-century set the perfect platform for Steve Smith to exploit in the death overs as he scored 39 runs off just 16 balls that included a superb reverse-six over the third man region. Steve Smith’s late cameo helped Pune Warriors reach 159 runs and their bowlers defended the total in grand fashion against the monster Chennai Super Kings.

After winning the toss, Aaron Finch led the Pune Warriors innings as he struck gorgeous boundaries of Dirk Nannes to take Pune to 12/0 in the first over. This prompted MS Dhoni to bring in Jadeja in the second over of the match, but that move did not have any impact on the Warriors innings as Aaron Finch exploited the first six overs and took the Warriors score to 48/0 off 6 overs.

Robin Uthappa didn’t get much of the strike, but kept the scoreboard ticking as he managed to snatch runs off every ball he faced. MS Dhoni, surprisingly, brought Ashwin at the end off the Power play that seemed to be improbable move from the captain off the Super Kings. Ashwin, though, he tried many variations, wasn’t able to break the partnership as Aaron Finch looked in sublime form. However, the breakthrough was provided by Jadeja in the 13th over off the match as Finch was stumped by MS Dhoni after a brilliant 67.

Chennai Super Kings bounced back in the middle period of the innings as they kept chipping away at the wickets at regular intervals. Chris Morris has established himself a very good player for Chennai Super Kings as he was among the wickets once again for the Super Kings. They lost Uthappa (26), Taylor (8) and Marsh (2) in quick succession before Smith stuck it out with Pandey for 31 runs to take the Pune Warriors to a reasonable score at the Chepauk wicket.

The wicket was pretty good at the start off the Pune Warriors innings and begun to slow down that brought a halt to Pune Warriors innings in the middle overs. And, for a side that has steady batting line-up shouldn’t be worried about the nature of the wicket.

There was a change in the opening pair with the absence of Hussey as Vijay and Anirudha Srikkanth opened the batting for the Super Kings. 160 runs wasn’t an uphill task for the Super Kings, given the kind of power-hitters they have down the order. However, Anirudha was trapped in front by Bhuvaneswar Kumar for 0. Yet again, Vijay was struggling to handle the swing and consequently, he wasn’t able to take the aerial route. With the wickets off Vijay (24), and Raina (8) in quick succession, Badrinath was required to put in a big performance.

He steadied the Chennai Super Kings chase as he put on a constructive partnership with off 46 runs with Jadeja. Jadeja was able to find atleast one boundary per over, and therefore Badrinath’s job was to rotate the strike. He thought of targeting Mitchell Marsh and paid the price as he was dismissed for 34. Jadeja followed Badrinath in the next over leaving Chennai Super Kings at 98/5.

Pune Warriors, since then, maintained tight length and did not allow them enough room, and consequently, there were rewarded with the wickets of Dhoni and Bravo in quick succession. Dinda bowled a beautiful penultimate over for the Pune Warriors that included the big wicket of Dhoni. It was Pune Warriors bowlers, who set up the win for them.

Pune Warriors play their next game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 17, while the Chennai Super Kings play their next game against Delhi Daredevils on April 18.