Chennai pip Warriors, both make Semi-Final

Chennai Super Kings 136 for 6 (Hussey 50, Vijay 35, Kreusch 3-19) beat Warriors 126 for 8 (Jacobs 32, Ashwin 3-24)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

It's not often that both contestants of a sporting encounter celebrate at the end of a match. That strange sight was on offer in Port Elizabeth after Chennai Super Kings prevailed over Warriors in a tense league match, paving the way for both teams to reach the semi-finals at the expense of Victoria.

Chennai's chances seemed to have evaporated after they stumbled to 136 after choosing to bat in a must-win match, but on a spin-friendly track their strategy of packing the team with slow bowlers paid off and they tenaciously defended that total to set up an all-IPL semi-final against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

It's not often that both contestants of a sporting encounter celebrate at the end of a match. That strange sight was on offer in Port Elizabeth after Chennai Super Kings prevailed over Warriors in a tense league match, paving the way for both teams to reach the semi-finals at the expense of Victoria.

Chennai's chances seemed to have evaporated when they stumbled to 136 after choosing to bat in a must-win match, but on a spin-friendly track their strategy of packing the team with slow bowlers paid off and they tenaciously defended that total to set up an all-IPL semi-final against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Victoria would never have felt more confident of making the final four than when Warriors captain Davey Jacobs was batting in his usual thrill-a-minute style to propel the chase early on. Jacobs survived in the second over when the ball rolled off his bat onto the stumps and Warriors confidently moved to 38 for 1 in the Powerplays, but Chennai started clawing things back after that.

Shadab Jakati and Muttiah Muralitharan choked the runs, before Jacobs fell to an overhead catch from a clam Michael Hussey at deep midwicket. Three overs later, Suresh Raina's magic arm earned a wicket with his third delivery to further slow the Warriors. In seven overs after the Powerplays, Warriors made only 28 and lost two major wickets, pushing the asking rate to double digits.

Briefly, it looked as though an IPL team would break the hearts of the home crowd, but it was the Chennai fans who faced some panicky moments when Justin Kreusch and Mark Boucher revived the Warriors with a 44-run stand. Two Boucher sixes off Jakati left Warriors needing a gettable 32 off three overs with seven wickets remaining and two set batsmen at the crease. Chennai's edginess was shown by Murali's tirade at S Badrinath after run-out chance was muffled following some kamikaze running between the wickets in the 16th over.

R Ashwin, battered in the Superover against Victoria, then returned to virtually ensure David Hussey's side will be returning home early. His carrom ball worked to perfection in the 18th over, foxing both Kreusch and Boucher, to swing the game Chennai's way, though a four in between raised the biggest cheer of the day as it confirmed Warriors' qualification. Chennai's key bowlers, Doug Bollinger and Murali, then held their nerve against Warriors' non-specialist batsmen to preserve Chennai's 100% record of progressing from the league phase of every tournament they have played in so far.

Chennai are reputed to be a batting-heavy side, but their batsmen let them down on Wednesday. Warriors have five bowlers with international experience in their line-up but it was the sixth, medium-pacer Kreusch, who made the biggest impact with his no-frills wicket-to-wicket bowling fetching him three wickets and ruining the platform Chennai's openers, Hussey and M Vijay, had constructed.