MUMBAI, April 27 (PTI): Subramaniam Badrinath slammed his second unbeaten half century of the tournament to power defending champions Chennai Super Kings to a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Pune Warriors in an Indian Premier League match at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai today.
Badrinath, who scored a classy 71 not out for a losing cause against hosts Mumbai Indians on April 22, stroked his way to a fine 63 not out in 44 balls as CSK overhauled the Pune�s modest score of 141 for six with three balls to spare.
The victory was the fourth for the holders in seven ties, and their first away from home. The win took CSK�s tally to eight points and put them on the third spot on the table while the Warriors slid to their fourth straight defeat in six matches.
Two days ago CSK had beaten the Warriors by 25 runs by defending a small target of 142 on a slow pitch at Chennai�s M A Chidambaram Stadium.
Chasing the modest target, CSK lost in-form Michael Hussey (19) in the fifth over, but 30-year-old Badrinath and his Tamil Nadu team-mate Murali Vijay (31 in as many balls) stitched a crucial 61 runs in 7.1 overs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for the comfortable win.
After Vijay�s dismissal, Badrinath added 64 runs with Suresh Raina (34 not out in 25 balls with 2 sixes and one four), for the unfinished third wicket to push Chennai across the finish line at 144 for two in 19.3 overs.
Earlier, Pune skipper Yuvraj Singh returned to form with a fine unbeaten 62 to help Pune Warriors recover from a poor start and reach a respectable 141 for six.
The left-handed batsman, who made 0 against Mumbai Indians and a slow 34 in 43 balls against CSK two days ago, started slowly before opening out to slam four sixes and three fours in 43 balls as the Warriors recovered from 41 for four to make a more challenging score after opting to bat.
Yuvraj first found an able ally in Robin Uthappa (31 in 22 balls) with whom he shared 42 runs for th fifth wicket to steady the Pune innings and then put on 40 runs with Mitchell Marsh (11) to guide his team beyond the 120-mark.
Doug Bollinger was the chief wrecker for CSK with fine haul of three for 21 that included a maiden over in which he took two wickets.
Nuwan Kulasekara, who played his first tie replacing an injured Albie Morkel, Tim Southee and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up a wicket each as CSK once again throttled Pune�s batting line-up after restricting them to 117 for nine in the 25-run win at Chennai two days ago.
CSK began their run-chase on a very sedate note against some tight new ball bowling by Alphonso Thomas, who set the tone with a maiden to Hussey, and Jerome Taylor.
The first boundary hit, a square-cut by Hussey off Alphonso, came only in the third over and then there was another dry spell to increase the pressure on the visitors.
The pressure led to Hussey�s dismissal when he was brilliantly caught by Manish Pandey in the deep to a short ball from Murali Kartik in the left-arm spinner�s opening over with Chennai scorecard reading 19 for one in the fifth over.
SCORECARD
Pune Warriors: J Ryder c Anirudha b Bollinger 19, M Mishra c Jakati b Bollinger 2, M Pandey c Ashwin b Southee 10, M Manhas b Kulasekara 0, Yuvraj Singh not out 62, R Uthappa c Anirudha b Ashwin 31, M Marsh c Ashwin b Bollinger 11, J Taylor not out 1. Extras: (LB-1, W-4) 5. Total: (For 6 wickets in 20 overs) 141. Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-22, 3-28, 4-41, 5-83, 6-123. Bowling: N Kulasekara 3-0-26-1, D Bollinger 4-1-21-3, Tim Southee 4-0-33-1, R Ashwin 4-0-29-1, S Jakati 2-0-15-0, Suresh Raina 3-0-16-0.
Chennai Super Kings: M Hussey c Pandey b Kartik 9, M Vijay c Manhas b Ryder 31, S Badrinath not out 63, S Raina not out 34, Extras: (LB-2, W-5, NB-1) 8. Total: (For 2 wickets in 19.3 overs) 145. Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-80. Bowling: A Thomas 3.3-1-24-0, J Taylor 4-0-27-0, M Kartik 4-1-27-1, M Marsh 1-0-7-0, R Sharma 4-0-27-0, Yuvraj Singh 1-0-10-0, J Ryder 2-0-21-1.
