Chennai super kings won by 24 runs
Muttiah Muralalitharan-led spin department sizzled in the tricky Kingsmead conditions as Chennai Super Kings beat XI Punjab by 24-runs in a low-scoring match to virtually knock the Yuvraj Singh-led side ou
t of the Indian Premier League.Muralitharan (2/8), R Ashwin (2/13) and Suresh Raina (2/17) spun their web around Punjab batsmen and saved the day for Chennai as Yuvraj men's found runs hard to come by in the low and slow conditions and could only manage 92 for eight in their alloted 20 overs.
Left-arm pacer Thilan Thushara, playing his first match of the tournament, also picked up two wickets for 28 runs.
With this win Chennai became the second team after Delhi Daredevils to have secured their semifinal spot with 17 points from 14 matches.
On the other hand, Punjab with 14 points in their kitty desperately needed to win today's match to assure themselves of a semifinal spot.
Yuvraj's men still have a slim chance to make it to the last four but their negative net run rate may work against them and they will be hoping for a miracle to happen in the last league match between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Earlier, S Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan snapped two wickets each as Kings XI Punjab restricted formidable Chennai Super Kings to a paltry 116 for nine.
Kings XI's run chase started on disastrous note as they lost dangerous Sunny Sohal early in the second over, caught by Parthiv Patel off Thushara.
Simon Katich was next to depart clean bowled behind his legs by Muralitharan to send Punjab in a spot of bother at 32/2 after six overs.
As expected Punjab batsmen found scoring tough against Chennai spinners. Their struggle can be ascertained from the fact that they score just 13 runs in the last four over before the strategic timeout.
Needing 72 off 54 deliveries, willy Muralitharan struck again when he induced an edge from Luke Pomersbach (26 off 32) that Raina pounced sharply at the first slip to see the Sri Lankan end his spell with superb figures of 4-0-8-2.
Raina then ended Yuvraj's struggle at the middle, disturbing the Punjab skipper's stumps in the very next over to give his side the upper hand in the contest.
Ashwin drived the final nail in Punjab's coffin picking up two wickets in the 16th over. He first scalped Kumar Sangakkara with a smart catch of
f his own bowling and then trapped Wilkin Mota in front of the stumps.Brett Lee was the next to go caught in the deep by Oram off Raina and then Irfan Pathan (14 off 12) followed in search of big hits caught by Oram of Thushara.
Earlier, Parthiv Patel (32 off 23 balls) and George Bailey (15) got Chennai of to a flying start scoring 35 runs in the first four overs.
Both Patel and Bailey struck a boundary each in the second over to pick 11 runs off Irfan Pathan (2/32).
Patel was the aggressive among the two and was particularly severe on Pathan. The diminutive left-hander added further misery for Pathan when he clobbered him for a four and a six over midwicket in his next over.
It took Yuvraj Singh's magic on the field to break the dangerous looking partnership. The Punjab skipper came up with a direct hit from mid-off to catch Bailey short of the crease.
The big breakthrough came in the seventh over when Ramesh Powar (1/19) bowled Patel to put brakes on Chennai scoring.
But it was Sreesanth (2/23) who turned the fortunes in Punjab's favour, inflicting twin blows just before the strategy break getting the important wickets of S Badrinath and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a span of three balls.
The maverick pacer first fooled Bardrinath, and then cleaned up Dhoni's timber a ball later with a gem of an inswinger with Chennai scoreboard reading 70/4 at the halfway.
Medium pacer Wilkin Mota (1/8) compounded further misery for Chennai when he got Suresh Raina (20 off 21) before Piyush Chawla (1/13) cleaning up Manpreet Gony in the next over.
Jacob Oram (17 off 21) tried hard to resurrect the Chennai innings but ultimately feel in search of quick runs.
Brief score:
Chennai Super Kings: 116 for 9 wickets in 20 overs (P Patel 32, S Raina 20; I Pathan 2/32, S Sreesanth 2/23).
Kings XI Punjab: 92 for 8 wickets in 20 overs (L Pomersbach 26, I Pathan 14; M Muralitharan 2/8, S Raina 2/17).
