Chennai: Dwayne Bravo smashed two sixes and three fours on his way to an unbeaten 46 off 25 balls as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) came from behind to beat the Cape Cobras by four wickets in a Group A Champions League Twenty20 match on Wednesday.
Chasing a victory target of 146, Chennai got home with two balls to spare with Albie Morkel being the other not out batsman on six.
Staring down the barrel at 77/5, Bravo put on 43 runs with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to lead Chennai's fightback after part time spinner JP Duminy took 4/20 to put the Cobras in the driver's seat.
Dhoni chopped one on to his stumps off the bowling of Vernon Philander with Chennai still requiring 26 off 14 balls.
Bravo then hammered a six and two fours off Dale Steyn as seventeen runs were scored in the penultimate over bowled by Dale Steyn to all but settle the issue in CSK's favour.
There were no hiccups With a mere six runs required off the last over and Bravo and Morkel took the defending champions home with two balls to spare.
CSK openers Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey gave their team a good start, adding 41 runs for the first wicket. But Vijay was caught by Justin Kemp off Philander in the fifth over. He made 14 off 10 balls.
Cobras' captain Kemp's gamble of introducing J P Duminy into the attack paid off straightaway as Michael Hussey was stumped by wicket-keeper Dane Vilas after scoring 29 off 24 balls.
Chennai lost their third wicket in the eighth over as S Badrinath (2) fell off Duminy's last delivery.
By the 12th over, half the CSK side was back in the pavillion as Duminy accounted for Wriddhiman Saha (6) and Suresh Raina (20) in one over to take his tally to four.
Earlier, electing to bat, Owais Shah and Duminy chipped in with useful contributions to help Cape Cobras post a modest total. Cobras, who at one stage looked set to score over 170, were done in by pacer Morkel, who put the breaks on the visitors' scoring rate by claiming two important wickets.
At the end of 16th over, Cobras were comfortably placed at 124 for three, thanks to some brisk batting by Shah and Duminy, but once the former (45 off 38 balls) fell to Morkel, Cobras lost the plot, losing wickets at regular intervals.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got rid of Richard Levi (6) off his first delivery when he had the opener trapped to provide Chennai their first breakthrough.
The Cobras slumped to 40 for two in the fifth over as Herschelle Gibbs (18) too departed, miscuing a Doug Bollinger delivery, but not before playing some exquisite strokes.
After the departure of both the openers, Dane Vilas (18) and Shah kept the scoreboard moving with occasional fours as the South African T20 champions crossed the 50-run mark in the seventh over.
As the batsmen were settling down, Dwayne Bravo bowled Vilas with a slower one that straightened after pitching.
Vilas struck a four and a six in his 19-ball knock.
But the loss did not stop Shah from taking risks as he first plundered two consecutive fours off Bollinger in the 11th over and then hit slow left-arm orthodox Shadab Jakati for a huge six over long-on to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Shah and J P Duminy (29), who came at the fall of Vilas, took the team past 100 in 12.4 overs.
Duminy got a reprieve in the 16th over when Jakati dropped him off his own bowling, when he was on 29.
However, Duminy failed to capitalise on the dropped chance as he was caught by Jakati at short fine-leg in the next over off Morkel.
Cobras were dealt a big blow when the in-form Shah too departed in the same over, caught at midwicket by Hussey off Morkel.
Once Duminy and Shah departed, Cobras struggled to get off the blocks against a disciplined bowling effort, led by Morkel as they scored just 16 runs off the last four overs.
For Chennai, Morkel, Bravo and Bollinger accounted for two wickets each, while Ashwin chipped in with one.
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