MIKE Hussey’s half-century and three wickets from Albie Morkel earned champions Chennai Super Kings a 25-run victory against Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday (April 25).
Australian Hussey anchored the Chennai innings with a 48-ball 61 to take them to a challenging 142 for six after the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team was put in to bat first by Yuvraj Singh.
The left-handed Hussey, put down by Yuvraj on 28, added 64 for the opening wicket with Murali Vijay (31) with half a dozen boundaries and a six.
West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor picked up three wickets for 30 runs for the Pune outfit, who lost their third in five matches in their debut season of the IPL.
The Pune side lost four wickets for 40 inside the first six overs and never recovered from the poor start, struggling for momentum throughout their innings.
Morkel picked up two wickets in his opening spell and came back to dismiss the dangerous Yuvraj (34) to snuff out the hopes of a win for Pune, who managed just 117 for nine.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-19) and Australian paceman Doug Bollinger (2-20) picked up two wickets apiece as Chennai jumped to the fourth spot in the table with the win.
