Jaipur delays Chennai's semi-final chances

Chennai Super Kings failed to seal a semi-final berth as it fell short by 10 runs while chasing down a formidable target of 212 set by Rajasthan Royals in the 49th match of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 24.

After Shane Warne decided to bat on winning the toss, Graeme Smith and Kamran Akmal scored 91 and 53 runs respectively posting a competitive total of 211 for five. Swapnil Asnodkar too chipped in with a handy 41 off 27 balls.

It was Suresh Raina who halted Smith’s innings in the 14th over. On the other hand, Albie Morkel’s haul of two wickets did not pose a major threat to the Jaipur team’s batting line-up as none of the other bowlers could maintain a firm economy rate.

In reply, Chennai started off well riding high on Raina’s 45 off 24 balls which included six boundaries and a couple of sixes initially. At the end of 15 overs, the scorecard for the Super Kings read 157 runs for three which left 55 more runs to be chased down from 30 balls. However, the team could not secure a win despite Morkel’s 71 and Parthiv Patel’s 54 as the batting order could not meet the required run rate.

Sohail Tanvir clinched 3/33 while captain Shane Warne claimed 2/35. To add to that, Pankaj Singh who was playing his second IPL game conceded only 30 runs in his spell of 4 overs.

Rajasthan Royals continued its winning streak but for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai unit, there is only one match remaining in order to meet the benchmark for booking a place in the semi-finals. Chennai Super Kings will take on bottom-placed Hyderabad Deccan Chargers on May 27 in Hyderabad which will be its last league game of the tournament.

Chennai’s Albie Morkel earned the Player of the Match award for his excellent all-round show with both bat and ball. Unfortunately for him though, his team ended up on the losing side.