It rained almost throughout the first nine overs, it rained for more than an hour after that, and Chennai Super Kings remained sluggish throughout. Except for a flowing 28 off 18 from M Vijay, almost all the batsmen struggled to adjust to the pace of the pitch, smart bowling and exceptional ground fielding from Kochi Tuskers. Suresh Raina, though, stayed long enough to score a fifty through a mix of clean hits and fortuitous ones, and took Chennai to a fighting total of 131, which means Kochi will be chasing 135 in 17 overs after the Duckworth/Lewis revision. Mahela Jayawardene's decision to field first, given the forecast rain, stands vindicated at the halfway mark.
There was assistance for the quick bowlers at the start. RP Singh utilised it to get rid of Michael Hussey, but with the falling rain, the ball started getting wet, and Vijay started playing some aggressive strokes. However, he played across to a straight delivery from Thisara Perera, and missed. Soon the rain got too much to continue playing, and the players went off at 65 for 2 after nine overs.
S Badrinath inside-edged a boundary off the first ball upon resumption. However, soon followed a spell of 16 deliveries without a boundary. Desperation got Badrinath for a 17-ball 19. At the time it seemed like a blessing in disguise for Chennai, for it brought together MS Dhoni and Raina. RP Singh, though, welcomed the India captain with an over full of yorkers and a bouncer, conceding just two: 109 for 3 after 15. In that spell, heave after heave followed, pad after pad was hit.
Ravindra Jadeja began the last over with promise, bowling two dot balls to Dhoni. In the last three, though, Albie Morkel and Dhoni managed a six each to give them a fillip going into the break.
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