April 22, 2013
Brief Scorecard: Chennai Super Kings 186 for 5 (Hussey 88, Raina 51, Faulkner 3-20) beat Rajasthan Royals 185 for 4 (Watson 101, Binny 36*, Ashwin 2-20) by five wickets
Michael Hussey's 51-ball 88 set up Chennai Super Kings' five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in Chennai
April 22, 2013
Brief Scorecard: Chennai Super Kings 186 for 5 (Hussey 88, Raina 51, Faulkner 3-20) beat Rajasthan Royals 185 for 4 (Watson 101, Binny 36*, Ashwin 2-20) by five wickets
Michael Hussey's 51-ball 88 set up Chennai Super Kings' five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in Chennai
NEW DELHI: Mike Hussey gritty show overshadowed Shane Watson's maiden ton as Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets in the IPL clash on Monday.
Hussey (88), though, fell short of a well deserved century, he kept Rajasthan at bay with his sheer brilliance to help his side cross Rajasthan massive total of 185.
The southpaw shared a solid 90-run stand with Suresh Raina after losing fellow opener Murali Vijay early. Raina, too scored a fighting fifty and ably supported Hussey in meeting his goal.
Hussey's dismissal came at the score of 154. But MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo didn't let his brilliant contribution go waste.
While Hussey reached his half-ton in 31 balls, Raina's half-ton came off 33 deliveries. The duo remained unperturbed by Murali Vijay's loss and took the side past 100 in 11 overs, giving Chennai hope.
Ajit Chandila took a stunning return catch to dismiss CSK opener Murali Vijay at the score of 22 after Shane Watson's ton powered Royals to 185/4.
Vijay scored just 3 and was dismissed when 22 runs were on board.
Shane Watson raises his bat after scoring a century, Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2013, Chennai, April 22, 2013
Earlier Shane Watson scored the first century of Pepsi Indian Premier League 6 to single-handedly power Rajasthan Royals to an imposing total.
Watson entertained the crowd at the M A Chidambaram stadium with some brilliant strokeplay before finishing at 101 off just 61 deliveries. He decorated his innings with six fours and as many fours.
Towards the end, Stuart Binny played a 22-ball unbeaten 36-run cameo to further help Rajasthan's cause.
Except for Ravichandran Ashwin (2/20), all Chennai bowlers bled runs as Watson went hammer-and-tonks from the word go. Apart from Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo (2/36) also picked up two wickets for the hosts.
Riding on Watson's brilliant strokeplay, the Royals got off to a rollicking start after opting to bat.
Watson and Ajinkya Rahane (16), who played the second fiddle, shared 71 runs off 44 balls for the opening stand.
Watson went ballistic from the onset and slaughtered the Chennai bowlers, except for Ashwin, with consummate ease.
Watson did not let go any scoring chance as he punished anything that was bowled full or short to him.
He smacked Mohit Sharma for a six and a four to pick up 14 runs off the third over. Watson meted out the same treatment to Chris Morris and Ravindra Jadeja to score identical 16 runs of the fifth and seventh over.
Ashwin brought Chennai back into the game with two quick wickets to put a brake on Rajasthan's scoring.
Courtesy: PTI
