When you have something close to 250 on the board it is unlikely to lose a game as the scoreboard pressure always gets the better of a chasing side.
And, it happened to the Dolphins against the Chennai Super Kings in a high-scoring Champions League T20 clash, as they succumbed to a 54-run defeat.
The margin seems to look pretty large but the Dolphins tried their level best to get close to the target. They gave chills to CSK at one point but the target proved a bit too much.
Despite having a 242-run cushion, the Super Kings never went for a kill and looked clueless against the counterattacks from Cameron Delport, Cody Chetty and Vaughn van Jaarsveld.
If the Super Kings would have made 20-30 runs less, the result could have been a lot different and the Morne van Wyk-led side might have snatched a victory as well.
“If you want to win tournaments you have to come up with better performances, our batsmen won’t score 240 every time,” CSK skipper MS Dhoni said after the match.
“We batted really well, the wicket remained quite the same, credit to Raina and McCullum for a great start, it was important to utilise all our resources so we went really hard,” he added.
“Without bowling struggling slightly it was important to get those 15-20 extra runs, even if we go down trying to get those runs,” he concluded.
West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo delivered a match-changing spell and finished with impressive bowling figures. He picked two wickets and gave just 17 runs in his four overs.
Bravo’s magical spell was lauded by Dolphins skipper van Wyk and added that his side was in the game until the West Indian “came on to bowl and it was a great exhibition of skill”.
