It was the third win in a row for the Chennai Super Kings, who were led home by the batting of their captain MS Dhoni, also the captain of India, who scored a fine 58 not out as his team scored 178/3 in their first innings. The game, however, was won in the field by the Chennai Super Kings, as they stymied the hard-charging Deccan Chargers with some tight bowling, that despite the small fact that the Chennai Super Kings dropped at least four catches when fielding.
Albie Morkel and Sudeep Tyagi gave them the perfect start by knocking the in-form opening Deccan Chargers duo of Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs in the first two overs. Gilchrist was out first ball of the innings to Morkel, while Gibbs and VVS Laxman were all out for ducks as the top order crumbled. The middle order attempted a revival through West Indian Dwayne Smith, who scored 49, but there was little else to offer in the innings as they collapsed to 100 all out in the 15th over.
"We were outplayed in all departments," said Gilchrist. "We didn't bowl badly, but they batted very well on a good batting track. And it was tough to chase, especially after the start we got. "I am not focussed on the semi-finals as of now, but on turning around this run (of three losses)."
Dhoni was the man of the match for his 58 not out from just 37 balls, as the Super Kings managed 178/3 in their 20 overs, but it was his distribution of the bowling that made sure his team won.
"I was struggling earlier; it affects my batting when I come in with only four-five overs to go since I'm not a batsman who can hit right from the start that was the thinking behind promoting myself. Credit to our openers for providing the platform for us to take off from," said Dhoni.
"We need to work hard on our fielding, we have dropped catches right through Season 2009 in South Africa and it has not hurt us that much because we are scoring 160-180 but if it is a low-scoring game, we will struggle."
