Pune Warriros upset hosts Chennai Super Kings by 24 runs

Tags: Indian Premier League - 2013, Chennai Super Kings Vs Pune Warriors 19th Match at Chennai - Apr 15, 2013, Steven Barry Smith, Aaron James Finch, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Published on: Apr 15, 2013

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Underdogs Pune Warriors pulled off the biggest upset of IPL 6 defeating tournament favourites Chennai Super Kings by a comprehensive margin of 24 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk.

By BV Swagath

Underdogs Pune Warriors pulled off the biggest upset of IPL 6 defeating tournament favourites Chennai Super Kings by a comprehensive margin of 24 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk. The Chennai Super Kings are quite down in the points table with a second defeat in four matches.

Batting first after winning the toss, Pune Warriors posted a healthy total of 159 for 5. Once again, their openers Aaron Finch and Robin Uthappa provided a terrific start, this time 96 runs on the board in 12.3 overs. Finch laid the impetus with a 45-ball 67 with 10 fours and 2 sixes. Uthappa didn’t set the ground on fire as he could only score 26 from 33 balls.

The Pune Warriors lost momentum after Finch’s dismissal but just towards the end thanks to a crucial cameo of 39* (from 16 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes) from Steven Smith got back into the contest. Fast bowler Chris Morris did well for the hosts taking 2 for 25 in 4 overs.

CSK badly missed Michael Hussey at the top of the order. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck twice with the new ball to put the hosts on the backfoot. Badrinath seemed to have got his eye in but got out after a 26-ball 34 leaving CSK at 86 for 4 in 13 overs. Another set batsman Ravindra Jadeja holed out after a 22-ball 27 as CSK slipped towards a possible defeat. The big hitting MS Dhoni and Albie Morkel couldn’t come up with any magic and the hosts finished at a weak 135 for 8 in 20 overs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was instrumental in Pune’s victory with superb figures of 2 for 12 in 4 overs. However, it was Steven Smith who got the Man of the Match award for his 39* from 16 balls and then three catches in the outfield to edge out Bhuvneshwar and Finch.

Toss and Teams: Pune Warriors have won the toss and elected to bat first against hosts Chennai Super Kings. With the match being played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the Pune Warriors have been forced to omit their Captain Angelo Mathews for being a Sri Lankan. The captaincy has been taken over by Ross Taylor.

For CSK, Albie Morkel comes in the place of Michael Hussey who has been rested. Steven Smith replaces Mathews in the Pune team.

Chennai Super Kings: Srikkanth Anirudha, Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni (C&WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dirk Nannes

Pune Warriors: Aaron Finch, Robin Uthappa (WK), Manish Pandey, Ross Taylor (C), Abhishek Nayar, Tirumalsetti Suman, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Ashok Dinda

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