By IANS,
Mohali : Australia’s Mike Hussey hit a whirlwind unbeaten 114 to help Chennai Super Kings defeat Kings XI Punjab by 33 runs in the second match of the Indian Premier League here Saturday evening.
Hussey faced 54 balls and slammed seven boundaries and 10 sixes to guide his team to 240 for five wickets in 20 overs after captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium. Chennai then restricted Kings XI Punjab to 207 for four wickets in 20 overs.
Suresh Raina (31, 13 balls, 2x4s, 3x6s) and S. Badrinath (31 not out, 14 balls, 3x4s, 2x6s) chipped in with useful scores for Chennai while pacer Irfan Pathan captured two for 42 for the losers.
For hosts Kings XI Punjab, James Hopes of Australia played a quick innings of 71 (33 balls, 10x4s, 3x6s) and Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara made a brisk 54 (33 balls, 5x4s, 2x6s) but they failed to take their team to victory.
Hopes was involved in two successive 50-plus partnerships but it was not enough. It is for the second successive day that the hosts have lost a match to the visiting side as on Friday night Bangalore Royal Challengers lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening encounter in Bangalore.
Hopes raised 56 for the opening wicket with Karan Goel and 55 for the second with Sangakkara. Although captain Yuvraj Singh chipped in with 23 (13 balls, 1×4, 2x6s) and was also involved in a 42-run stand with Sangakkara, the Punjab side failed to dominate Chennai’s bowling attack, including legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
Muralitharan, Manpreet Gony, Palani Amarnath and Joginder Sharma took one wicket each.