Warner blasts NSW into semis
David Warner blasted an unbeaten 135 runs to set up a 46-run victory for New South Wales (NSW) over the Chennai Super Kings and ensure a place in the semifinals of the CLT20 in Chennai on Tuesday.
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Chasing 202 off 17 overs in order to qualify, Chennai were never in the hunt, as first Stuart Clark and then Steve O'Keefe ripped the heart out of the Super Kings' line-up, leaving them staggering on 111/5 in the 14th over.
To put the finishing touches on a golden evening, Warner also took two catches and effected a run-out.
O'Keefe bagged three wickets for 28 runs, to top the bowling.
Earlier, having elected to bat first, Warner's blitzkrieg boosted New South Wales's score to 201 for two.
Warner and Shane Watson added 54 runs for the first wicket before the latter tried to sweep Ravichandran Ashwin, but he fetched the ball too far outside off and Mahendra Singh Dhoni completed the catch.
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Steve Smith (31) supported Warner well, and the pair put together 101 runs for the second wicket.
Warner was unstoppable, batting both right-and left-handed, connecting with nearly all of his switch-hits.
He faced only 69 deliveries and hit 11 fours and eight maximum, being especially severe on the medium-paced Dwayne Bravo who conceded 24 runs off the penultimate over.
Even Doug Bollinger was not spared, bowling only three overs, but he went for 48 runs.
Chennai have been eliminated from the tournament as the only team to have lost three matches.
Teams:
Chennai Super Kings: M Vijay, MEK Hussey, SK Raina, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), DJ Bravo, WP Saha, R Ashwin, SB Jakati, KMDN Kulasekara, DE Bollinger
New South Wales: DA Warner, SR Watson, DLR Smith (wk), SM Katich (capt), SPD Smith, MC Henriques, BJ Rohrer, SNJ O'Keefe, MA Starc, PJ Cummins, SR Clark