Suresh Raina today blazed his way to a 43-ball 90 and powered Chennai Super Kings to a comfortable 54-run win over Dolphins, keeping the Indian outfit's semifinal prospects alive in the Oppo Champions League Twenty20 here.
The Super Kings notched up an imposing 242 for six and then saw off Dolphins' early onslaught to bowl them out for 188 in 20 overs.
Chasing a stiff target, Dolphins were cruising at 56 for two by the end of third over and had crossed hundred by the end of ninth. But the South African side could not sustain the tempo and lost its way after the initial promise.
Earlier, Raina was on the ball from the word go and his onslaught during which he hit four boundaries and eight power-packed sixes, left the opposition blowers bruised and battered after Dolphins opted to field at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Mohit Sharma was CSK's most successful bowler with impressive figures of four for 41. Needing a win to keep their semifinal prospects alive, two-time IPL champions CSK also got valuable support from Brendon McCullum, who hammered 49 off 29 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Ravindra Jadeja blazed his way to an unbeaten 40-run knock off a mere 14 balls, including 24 off the innings' 17th over bowled by Kehsav Maharaj, as CSK finished with a huge total on board following the defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening game.
Raina and McCullum were involved in a 91-run stand for the second wicket, the runs coming in barely 7.3 overs. CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni though was bowled for a first-ball duck.
In their chase, Cameron Delport and skipper Morne van Wyk plundered runs in the first couple of overs and looked in cruise mode. Delport smashed Ashish Nehra for 20 runs in the innings' opening over, hitting the seamer for two fours and a six. Wyk then hit two fours and a six to score 16 runs.
Delport was in the thick of things again, picking up 20 runs off Sharma's first over and the innings' third, to take Dolphins past the fifty-run mark.
But, after hitting a six and three fours, Delport was foxed by Sharma's slower ball. That was a big blow for the visiting side as the well-built batsman was looking set for a big one.
