Smith got his half-ton with the help of four sixes and five boundaries.
Mumbai got off to poor start as they lost opener Aditya Tare in the second over with just 12 runs on board.
Albie Morkel got Tare caught by Murali Vijay at mid-on after his seven run knock.
Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina took the Mumbai Indians attack to the cleaners as Chennai Super Kings posted a mammoth 192 for one in the first Qualifier of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.
Hussey, known as 'Mr Cricket', delighted the sell-out crowd with his amazing array of strokes as he scored an unbeaten 86 off 58 balls with the help of 10 boundaries and two shots over the fence.
He was ably complemented by the ever-dependable Suresh Raina who smashed his way to a breathtaking 42-ball-82 that had five boundaries and an equal number of huge sixes.
The duo put on astonishing 140 runs for the second wicket in 12.4 overs as CSK put on an imposing total on a low and slow Feroze Shah Kotla track after electing to bat.
The duo scored 123 runs in the last 10 overs with both going on the rampage. The southpaws were on song as they played some breathtaking shots in the cover region. Both matched each other stroke for stroke with MI bowlers dishing out one full-toss after other.
Although Harbhajan Singh went wicket-less, his figures of none for 26 were decent while pace duo of Lasith Malinga (0/45) and Mitchell Johnson (0/40) gave away 85 runs in eight overs between them. Munaf Patel (0/32) poor effort also didn't help the cause.
CSK's 'Man Friday' Hussey started off with a boundary as Johnson fed him one on his legs. The normally profligate Munaf Patel was hit for successive boundaries by Vijay as 12 runs came of that over.
The initial momentum that they got helped them get into the groove. Hussey in particular was a delight to watch. When Johnson provided width, he played the square cut with ferocity, when Malinga bowled a slower one, he was quick to judge the length of the delivery and dispatch it through covers.
47 runs came in the Powerplay and Hussey was already up and racing. When Harbhajan tried to flight one, he came out and played a delightful inside-out shot over extra cover.
The 50 came up in the seventh over but Vijay (23, 2x4) again frittered away a good start.
Kieron Pollard proved to be the man with 'Golden Arm' as Vijay slogged lazily and was holed out in the deep mid-wicket region by Dwayne Smith.
The introduction of Raina proved to be a shot in the arm for Hussey as both players carted the MI bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Raina's sixes were a treat to watch, especially the one over extra cover which was hit with a lot of panache. Similarly Hussey looked elegant as he pulled a short ball from Pollard over deep square leg for a six.
While Hussey completed his 50 off 40 deliveries, Raina smacked a Pollard full-toss into the cow-corner to get to his milestone in 29 balls.
0 comments:
Post a Comment