Chennai Super Kings 132 for 2 (Vijay 58, Hussey 51*) Warriors 128 (Murali 3-16, Ashwin 2-16) by 8 wickets
Davy Jacobs had started off imperiously and catapulted Warriors to 45 in the sixth over. Then R Ashwin got one to turn quickly towards the leg stump, Jacobs went for the reverse sweep, but was trapped in front.After Jacobs fell, Muttiah Muralitharan suffocated the Warriors with his skill, and L Balaji maintained the pressure with a disciplined spell in the middle, keeping the Warriors to 128, which was never going to be enough.Ashwin continued to tease them with his variations and Muttiah Muralitharan came on in the 10th over to harass them with his ability.
He kept his doosras to a minimum, and ripped offbreaks across at varying pace. Success came in the 14th over: Mark Boucher, who has fallen most to Muralitharan than any other bowler in his career, was bowled, and Justin Kreusch was beaten by the dip and flicked straight to midwicket.
The only chance for Warriors after that effort was take early wickets. They didn't. M Vijay and Michael Hussey shut them out of the contest with assured knocks. Both play spin well. Vijay used his feet to repeatedly drive inside out while Hussey, as ever, worked the angles. There was a brief moment at the end when Vijay and Suresh Raina fell in quick succession and all wondered, 'Hold on, do we have a twist here?' The equation jumped from a comfortable 26 from 31 deliveries to 13 from 12. However, Hussey and Dhoni calmly escorted Chennai home. A score of 128 wasn't enough to test Chennai. Jacobs' wicket was the key.
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