On a flat pitch that saw a total of 35 fours and 25 sixes scored in the eighth group match of the Oppo CLT20 2014, Chennai Super Kings beat resurgent Dolphins by 54 runs on Monday. Suresh Raina was the man of the match.

Dolphins won the toss and sent Chennai to bat. The start was slightly shaky for Chennai as they lost opener Dwayne Smith in the first over. However, Suresh Raina, who replaced Smith, fired on all cylinders. It was raining sixes as he and Brendon McCullum hit the bowlers all around the park. McCullum scored a quick 49 off 29 balls (4X5, 6X3) before being caught by Daryn Smit at deep mid wicket. Raina continued with his torrent of fours and sixes with a new partner in Faf Du Plessis. During the innings, Raina became the highest run-scorer in the CLT20 2014 tournament, with 118 runs to his name. Raina fell in the 15th over when he gave an easy catch to Cameron Delport. He made a total of 90 runs from 43 balls (4X4, 6X8).

MS Dhoni then came out in the middle but he was out on a duck on the very first ball he faced. Du Plessis took over from where Raina left and made 30 runs playing only 19 balls (4X3, 6X1). Jadeja came in the 16th over and quickly scored 23 runs off 5 balls in the over. He remained unbeaten on 40 (4X3, 6X3), having faced 14 balls. Dwayne Bravo also chipped in with 11 runs from 9 balls.

Dolphins' fielding was disappointing and so was the bowling. Robbie Frylinck took crucial wickets of Raina and Dhoni.

In the second innings, Dolphins were off to a blazing start, scoring 20 runs off the first over. But in the next over, Captain Morne Van Wyke had to leave due to a poor call from the umpire. Meanwhile, opener Delport was on fire in the third over as he scored three fours and a six. His bat broke too, though, and only the handle was left in his hand. Unfortunately for him, he was bowled on the last ball of the same over.

The fastest 50 of the tournament came in 2.3 overs of this inning. The score read 56/3 at the end of the third over. Vaughn van Jaarsveld tried to keep his team in the match, scoring 30 from 22 balls. However, the task was daunting for the Dolphins from the beginning, and the pressure of high asking net run rate was present throughout. They managed to score 188 in the 20 overs.

Mohit Sharma proved to be the best bowler for Chennai, taking 4 wickets in the match. Raina, meanwhile, was considered man of the match (see scorecard).

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