Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) Australian Matthew Hayden demonstrated the power of the much-hyped ‘Mongoose bat’ to score an explosive 93 that powered Chennai Super Kings to a five-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Friday.
Though the burly Australian, who was using the specially designed bats for Twenty20 cricket for the first time, fell agonisingly short of his maiden IPL century but made sure that his team successfuly chased down 185 without any hiccups.

Hayden’s 43-ball 93 formed the cornerstone of the chase as the Super Kings, playing without their key batsman and injured skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, reached the target with five balls to spare. New skipper Suresh Raina led by example, scoring an unbeaten 49 off 34 balls and holding onto two brilliant catches.

Raina and Hayden joined forces to hit 78 runs for the third wicket after the fall of Parthiv Patel and Subramaniam Badrinath.

The quick dismissals of Albie Morkel (0) and Justin Kemp (4) after Hayden’s wicket in the 14th over, did not deter Raina and he batted unreigned, hitting three fours and three sixes.

But it was the mongoose bat that grabbed eyeballs. The bat, with a large handle and a shorter blade, is supposed to pack more power for its large sweet spot.

Hayden took the bat in the fourth over of the innings and since then, there was no stopping him as he muscled his way to his best IPL knock with some monstrous hits. He struck seven sixes and nine fours that had the packed stadium fully entertained.

The loss was Daredevils’s second successive at home after a massive 98-run defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians here Wednesday. The Delhi team, with two wins and equal number of losses, is now at the fifth place in the pool table.

The wicket, like in the match against the Mumbai Indians, was good to bat on, though it was a bit on the slower side and assited the spinners.

The spin duo of Muttiah Murlitharan (2-25) and R. Ashwin (1-40) pegged Super Kings back into the match after Virender Sehwag smashed 74 off 38 balls and Daredevils looked set for a total past 200.

Sehwag bludgeoned the hapless Super Kings bowlers to knock his second successive IPL fifty.

The Nawab of Najafgarh was in his element in the front of the home crowd and there was hardly a moment of pall during his stay. His 10 fours and three sixes in his 38-ball innings sent the crowd into raptures as the chants of his name grew louder.

The Daredevils were going strong at 101 for one when Murlitharan removed Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sehwag in a space of two balls in the 12th over. Dilshan (15), in an attempt to charge, was caught by Raina at midwicket while Sehwag fell to a stunning one-handed catch by Justin Kemp near the boundary rope at long-off.

In the next over, Raina showed snappy reflexes at midwicket to send AB de Villiers packing off Ashwin.

The three quick wickets restricted Daredevils to 185 for six.