Yuvraj’s Punjab sunk by Ntini, Raina, Patel by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab
Player:	PA Patel, SK Raina, V Sivaramakrishnan, M Ntini, JA Morkel, MS Gony, SE Marsh, WA Mota
Event:	Indian Premier League 2007/08

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DateLine: 2nd June 2008

 

If the first semi-final between the Rajasthan Royals and the Delhi DareDevils gave no chance to the team batting second, Delhi, today it was the turn of the team batting first to be skittled out for a paltry total that they could never defend. Chennai Super Kings won the second semi-final by nine wickets and earned the right to play the Rajasthan Royals in the finals of the first season of DLF IPL.

 

Yuvraj Singh won the toss, and on a typical, brown looking Wankhede wicket, which was set to turn in the second half, elected to bat first. Muralitharan was called upon to bowl the first over of the match, but then it was Manpreet Gony and Makhaya Ntini who stole the thunder for the Super Kings, capturing a couple of wickets each. It turned out to be a disaster for the Kings XI Punjab, as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals – including the top-run getter Shaun Marsh, as they capitulated for a paltry 112/8 in their allocated share of twenty overs. That too was possible due to some lusty shots played in the final over, by the portly off-spinner, Ramesh Powar, but they knew it was never going to be enough.

 

The Punjab team did get the early wicket of S. Vidyut, but after that, it was the pair of Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina who locked horns with the bowling. The two diminutive left handed batsmen cut and pulled anything that was short and reached their fifties to seal the match for the team. The two remained unbeaten, and the Super Kings won the match by nine wickets, and with more than five overs to spare. Makhaya Ntini’s spell that broke the back of the Punjab top order, won him the Man-of-the-Match award. This loss also meant that the Kings XI Punjab team had lost their third consecutive match against the Chennai Super Kings in this tournament.

 

The finals would be played between the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings at the Dr. D.Y. Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai.