Chennai edge out Delhi in last-ball finish

New Delhi: Chennai kept their nerves as S Badrinath and Manpreet Gony emerged unlikely heroes to edge out Delhi in a last-ball finish at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday.

Delhi appeared to have missed a trick as captain Virender Sehwag used up frontline bowlers Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif as Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik was left to bowl the final over with 15 runs to get. Gony was up to the task, smashing the first ball for a towering six before a wide dampened Delhi's hopes.

Gony struck another boundary next ball but boiled down to the final ball as Badrinath was on strike with a run to win. Shikhar Dhawan nearly pulled off a sensational catch in the deep but the Chennai dressing room erupted as the ball trickled out of the fielder's hands to hand Chennai their first win after three straight defeats.

Earlier, Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir smashed 80 from 49 balls to lift his side to 187-5 before Chennai began their pursuit in fine fashion, with openers S Vidyut and Stephen Fleming flaying the Delhi attack.

Delhi pulled back with quick wickets before Albie Morkel got Chennai back on track, smashing captain Virender Sehwag for 23 runs in an over that included three consecutive sixes.

Put in to bat in the return leg by MS Dhoni, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir provided the home side with a rollicking start before Chennai bowlers Manpreet Gony and Albie Morkel struck in succession to remove Sehwag (23) and AB de Villiers (0) to pull the hosts back. But Gambhir, along with left-hander Shikhar Dhawan wrested the initiative back with a 121-run third-wicket partnership.

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