By Sheriff Michaels
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| Shane Watson plays gutsy knock for Sydney Sixers in Champions League Twenty20 2012. |
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (TheSportsNEXT) October 14, 2012: An all-round performance by Moises Henriques helped Australia’s Sydney Sixers start their Champions League Twenty20 2012 campaign off to a confidence start on Sunday when they defeated IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings by 14 runs at New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.
Moises Henriques first smashed 23-ball unbeaten 49 runs with the help of three sixes and five boundaries before taking three wickets for just 23 runs from three overs to get hold of the Man of the Match award.
Sydney Sixers scored 185 for five from their 20 overs after skipper Chennai Super Kings Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to field first, banking on his batting might to chase down anything under the sun.
Michael Lumb (18 from 16 – 1 four, 1 six) and ICC World Twenty20 2012’s Player of the Tournament Shane Watson (46 from 30 – 5 fours, 2 sixes) opened the batting for Sydney Sixers and scored quick-fired 50 runs from just 37 balls to set the foundation of a massive total.
Nic Maddinson (12 from 16 – 1 four) and Brad Haddin (20 from 18 – 1 four, 1 six) stabilized the innings in the middle overs but Steven Smith (26 from 17 – 3 fours) and Moises Henriques (49 not out from 23 – 5 fours, 3 sixes) went berserk in the final overs adding 70 runs from mere 39 balls.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the most successful bowler for the Chennai Super Kings as he captured two scalps for 32 runs while Ben Hilfenhaus (1/26) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/29) also bowled well. However, Doug Bollinger, who became the player with most caps in Champions League Twenty20 by playing 17th match in the competition, went for 39 runs from his four overs.
Chasing 186 runs was always going to be a difficult task for any batting might in the world and it was no different story for the Chennai Super Kings as they lost opening batsman Murali Vijay (1 from 5) and Mike Hussey (16 from 19 – 2 fours) early in the innings.
South African Faf du Plessis (43 from 25 – 5 fours, 2 sixes) revived the challenge and along with Suresh Raina (57 from 33 – 8 fours, 2 sixes) set the foundation of a strong finish with the likes of MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, and Subramaniam Badrinath still waiting in the wings.
However, as soon as Subramaniam Badrinath (6 from 11) left the crease, things started to look shaky for the Chennai Super Kings as skipper MS Dhoni (8 from 8 – 1 four) completely looked out of color while Ravindra Jadeja (2 from 3) also failed to cope up with the challenge of ever-mounting asking run-rate.
Despite of a late flurry of boundaries by Ravichandran Ashwin (18 from 9 – 3 fours), the Chennai Super Kings were folded for 171 for nine from their 20 overs, thus falling 14 runs short of the total posted by Sydney Sixers.
Moises Henriques and Mitchell Starc grabbed three wickets each for 23 and 31 runs respectively while Pat Cummins (1/42), Shane Watson (1/31), and Steve O’Keefe (1/16) also captured one wicket apiece.
Former skipper Shahid Afridi was due to represent Sydney Thunder while the world’s best Twenty20 bowler Saeed Ajmal and hard-hitting Umar Akmal had signed contracts with Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Sixers, respectively.
