Dhoni Praises Raina, Vijay for the victory

Centurion: Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday heaped praise on Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay for setting the platform for the comfortable 97-run victory over Wayamba in Group A match of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament here.

Raina (87 off 44) and Vijay (68 off 48) shared a 137-run second wicket partnership, that came off just 72 deliveries, to help Chennai post a mammoth 200 for three and set the tone for the convincing win at the SuperSport Park here.

"We did not want to bat first because in this ground it is very hard to defend. But once we were sent into bat, we needed couple of extra runs, something over 180.

"And exactly thats what the batsmen did. They started off cautiously and after that Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay batted brilliantly. They were easily picking up boundaries and in the end 200 is a very good score to defend," Dhoni said after his side had inched a step closer towards semifinals following their second consecutive win in Group A.

"We want to win each and every game that we play. But we always talk about not to think too much about the result, instead prepare well for the game. It is really important to prepare well and execute your plans on the field," he said.

The Chennai skipper also lauded his quick bowlers Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel for their impressive display upfront.

"It is important to have a quick bowler in the side.

Dougie (Bollinger) came in as a replacement for us and all of a sudden the team looked different with his inclusion because pace really matters," Dhoni said.

"Equally important was Albie Morkel's spell because he has got the neck of picking wickets," he added.

His Wayamba counterpart Jehan Mubarak was of the view that his bowlers awful performance in the middle overs cost his side the match.

He also lauded Chennai for their clinical display.

"They are a very good team and we knew we had to play our best cricket if we desire to beat them. But they brought out their best game today. Suresh (Raina) batted extremely well," Mubarak said.

"We got a good start with (Ajantha) Mendis opening the bowling but there were four big overs in the middle which produced in excess of 20 runs and I think this cost us the game," he insisted.

Mubarak said opting to bat after winning the toss was not a wrong decision but his batters struggled from the onset of their innings.

"In Twenty20 cricket, the wicket and toss don't play a big difference. The wicket was the pretty much the same all throughout the game but we struggled with the bat.

"We lost too many wickets early on and when you need to chase 10 an over from the start there is additional pressure on the batsmen," he said.

Man-of-the-match Suresh Raina was also of the view that his second-wicket partnership with Vijay did the trick for his side.

"Vijay batted really well. Me and Vijay got a very good partnership which set the tone but at the end of the day credit goes to the team. We executed our plan really well," he said.

Bushrangers look to hunt the Stags

Centurion: After a 28-run loss in the opener that is sure to have dented Victoria Bushrangers' pride, the champion T20 side from Australia will be hungry for success when they take on trans-Tasman rivals Central Stags in their second game here at the Centurion on Wednesday.

The Bushrangers were left shell-shocked by South African club Warriors who played out of their skins to upset the Aussie team, who are a pedigreed T20 lot having won the KFC Big Bash on four out of the five occasions.

The Australian team, who were among the favourites in the first edition last year before they lost in the last four stage to eventual champions New South Wales Blues, need a win to keep their hopes alive in this tournament. Another loss on Wednesday means that they will need to win their remaining two games to make it to the last four stage.

On paper they are definitely stronger than the Stags, but they will be cautious knowing full well that overconfidence will do them more harm than good. The Stags too are coming off a crushing defeat at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings, who beat them by 57 runs on Sunday and face the ominous task of facing up to the Bushrangers' strong bowling attack.

At the top of the order, Peter Ingram, Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair will have to get the Stags off to a good start if they do not repeat of their collapse against Chennai where their individual scores put together read more like a telephone number.

On the other hand, the Bushrangers too will have to ensure that their batsmen keep their cool. Most of the top order batsmen managed to get starts in the last game, but fell just when it seemed that a partnership was being strung together.

A must-win game for both teams, the losing side can kiss their chances of a semi-final finish goodbye.