T&T blows away Super Kings, makes it to the last four stage

Trinidad and Tobago required a win, or had to go down by a narrow margin, in its last Group ‘B’ encounter against Chennai Super Kings to enter the semifinals of the Champions League T20. The Caribbean side coasted to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Wednesday as CSK suffered an uncharacteristic batting failure.

Right from the toss, everything fell in place for T&T. It opted to field, bundled out CSK for a meagre total of 118 and overhauled the target in style to confirm its place in the last four.

In the semifinals, T&T, which replaced CSK at the top of the group, will play Mumbai Indians here on Saturday. CSK will travel to Jaipur take  on    

Rajasthan Royals on Friday.                                     

T&T fielded well and backed the bowlers who deserve credit for maintaining discipline in a high-pressure match. T&T’s fielders stopped crucial runs, took good catches and pulled off three run-outs.

However, CSK’s batting slump, which triggered the outflow of thousands of fans from the nearly-packed stadium, was unexpected. Despite Michael Hussey’s dismissal in the second over, Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina got together to gather runs at a brisk pace and set the platform for a healthy aggregate.

Best partnership

Vijay relied on his timing and placement to execute four classy boundaries in his 24-ball 27. Raina slammed three fours, and a six down the ground, for a 29-ball 38.

The pair added 55 runs for the second wicket, which turned out to be the best partnership for CSK.

Lendl Simmons, a part-time medium-pacer, was lucky as he got rid of the duo in back-to-back overs.

Vijay inside-edged a wide delivery on to his stumps while Raina played a pre-determined shotstraight to short fine-leg. At 78 for three in the 11th over, CSK still had the resources and overs to post an imposing target.

However, the team kept losing wickets as T&T happily grabbed every opportunity on offer.

CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni was the only other batsman to reach a decent score.

Chasing CSK’s modest score, T&T did not face any hurdles.

Plenty to spare

Openers Simmons (63) and Evin Lewis (38) made sure that their team reached home with plenty to spare.