Victory for T&T

William Perkins

The semi-final door was virtually shut on defending champions Chennai Super Kings as they lost the crunch Champions League Twenty20 Group A clash by 12 runs to Trinidad and Tobago, in Chennai on Sunday October 2.

Chasing a small target of 124, all Chennai could manage was just 111 for six as batting was extremely tough on the MA Chidambaram wicket.

Off-break bowler Sunil Narine emerged as star performer for T&T as  be bowled exceptionally well, claiming three wickets and giving away just eight runs in his four overs.

Coming into the crucial, Chennai did well in the first half by restricting the rivals to a paltry 123 for eight but the target could have been less had they not conceded 49 runs in the last five overs.

T&T managed those 49 runs largely on the back of a heroic innings from Kevon Cooper, who hit a 10-ball 28 with the help of three sixes and a four.

Opener William Perkins (34) top scored for the T&T while Adrian Barath (23) also played a useful knock.

Australian paceman Doug Bollinger (3/30) and spinner Shadab Jakati (2/18) bowled well for Chennai in the first half as they shared five wickets between them.

The target was not too big but batting was not easy and the small score proved quite difficult to achieve for the Chennai, who now have lost two of the three matches played.

Dwayne Bravo was top scorer for Chennai with his unbeaten 32 but that only reduced the defeat margin.

Now Chennai need to win their last match against New South Wales Blues on Tuesday and hope that a mathematical miracle help them make the cut for the semi-finals. 

Mumbai are at the top with five points.

Chennai needed 61 runs from the last five overs as they managed only 63 runs before that, having lost five top-order batsmen.

Bravo and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were at the crease but the skipper became third vicitm of Narine, who had earlier dimissed Murali Vijay (6) and Suresh Raina (2).

Strokemaking was not easy although Bravo did his bit by smashing an unbeaten 22-ball 32 and Albie Morkel managing 18 of 12 balls but that proved insufficient in the end.

Chennai did not have a great start as they lost Vijay, Raina and Michael Hussey (13) within the power-play period and with just 27 runs on the board.

By the half-way mark the hosts had also lost Wriddhiman Saha (8), leg before to Cooper, needing another 76 runs. Only four runs had reduced from the target that S Badrinath (15) ran himself out in a mix up with Dhoni.

Earlier, Cooper helped his side go past the 100-run mark as he reeled off three sixes and a four in his 10 ball knock before getting out in the last ball of the innings.

Runs did not come freely for the Caribbean batsmen after deciding to bat as Bollinger and Albie Morkel bowled tight.