Jadeja leads Hyderabad rout as Chennai open account

VISAKHAPATNAM: "Chennai have traditionally been slow starters and that's why they haven't really been disturbed by the loss to Mumbai in their earlier game," bowling coach Andy Bichel had remarked on the eve of the clash against Hyderabad.

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On Saturday, his players made sure that their coach's words didn't go in vain as they made a rather sedate start with the bat before finishing their innings off in a blaze. The blast was so strong that the hosts, playing their first home game in a new venue at the ACA-VDCA stadium, had no chance to recover.

Replying to Chennai's stiff 193/6, Hyderabad were bundled out for 119 in 17.1 overs to hand Chennai a morale boosting 74-run win. The Hyderabad batsmen tried to make a match of the game but they failed to mount a meaningful assault.

Ravindra Jadeja, who had struck a 29-ball 48, scalped 5/16 in four overs to cap a fine day for himself and his team. It was the left-arm spinner's maiden five-wicket haul in IPL. With both skippers wanting to chase under the lights, it seemed to be a good toss to win for Hyderabad. Skipper White said he opted to field first because there had been some dew around in the evenings leading up to this game.

But in the end it didn't really matter as the Chennai batsmen took the game away from their rivals even before a ball was bowled in the second innings.

Hyderabad hadn't accounted for Jadeja's show. The India player had a poor tour Down Under but he showed he could be a handful in these conditions. The southpaw struck three fours and three sixes in his knock and towards the end Dwayne Bravo tore the rival attack to shreds. The West Indian hammered five sixes - plundering 23 off Manpreet Gony's and the innings' last over - in his 17-ball 43.

Brief Scores: Chennai 193/6 in 20 overs (R Jadeja 48, Dwayne Bravo 43; D Steyn 2/25, Daniel Christian 2/26) beat Hyderabad 119 in 17.1 overs (C White 23, P Patel 20; R Jadeja 5/16) by 74 runs.