CLT20: As it happened - Chennai Super Kings beat Brisbane Heat by 8 wickets

Chennai Super Kings register an easy 8-wicket win over Brisbane Heat in a Group B tie of the Champions League Twenty20. Catch all the highlights here: (Scorecard | Commentary)

23:10 (IST): QUOTES-

Michael Hussey: I certainly don't feel all that young. In fairness, I thought Ashwin deserved the MoM award. I still enjoy the contest in the middle and try to play according to the situation of the game. Enjoy playing along with this bunch of players. Excellent crowd and a very good pitch, though it becomes hard for a bowler after the first 6 overs. We can improve further and get to our best in crunch matches.

MS Dhoni: I think it was a great performance. The spinners were superb, with all the dew around. We were a bit disappointed to have not restricted them to around 110-120, but we knew we had the batting to chase down the score. (Mike) Hussey and (Murali) Vijay were outstanding at the top of the order. Ashwin has all the variations, Jadeja will learn a lot as he plays more matches. Raina knows his limitations. We know we can improve further, it is always difficult to bowl with a wet ball. It is nice to play in front of the Ranchi crowd. It is always nice to be back in your home city, we will be back in a few days for an ODI against Australia.

James Hopes: We got off to a pretty good start only to lose our way in the middle overs. Once again, the batting let us down. We will take some learning curve from the tournament. It was valuable experience for some of the younger guys in the team and they will only learn from this exposure.

23:00 (IST): That's it! The big news is that Chennai Super Kings become the first team in this year's tournament to book a place in the semifinals. Mike Hussey remained not out on 57 off 48 balls, while MS Dhoni (13*) finished off the game in his style - with a six - to win the tie by 8 wickets. Murali Vijay scored 42 while Suresh Raina chipped in with a crucial 23. Ben Cutting and Daniel Christian picked up a wicket each for Brisbane Heat.

22:50 (IST): FIFTY! Mike Hussey gets to his fourth fifty with a four. CSK 120/2 (14.1 overs), need 18 more to beat Brisbane Heat (137/7).

22:49 (IST): WICKET! Daniel Christian strikes to remove Suresh Raina for 23, a bit late though. Raina was looking to work it on the on side but misses it and is rapped on pads. Umpire Rod Tucker takes time and rules it in favour of the bowler. CSK 116/2 (14 overs), need 22 more to beat Brisbane Heat (137/7).

22:37 (IST): Suresh Raina ends over number 12 with a fabulous six over mid wicket. CSK 98/1 (12 overs), need 40 more to beat Brisbane Heat (137/7).

22:23 (IST): WICKET! Ben Cutting gets rid of dangerous Murali Vijay for 42. Cutting bowls a short-pitched delivery, Vijay looks to pull it but gets a top edge and straight to Joe Burns at deep fine leg. CSK 75/1 (9.2 overs) against Brisbane Heat (137/7).

22:12 (IST): Murali Vijay opens up for the first time to hammer spinner Nathan Hauritz for consecutive sixes. CSK 52/0 (7 overs) against Brisbane Heat (137/7).

22:06 (IST): Chennai Super Kings openers Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey have kept things simple so far and have gone after only poor deliveries. CSK 37/0 (6 overs) against Brisbane Heat (137/7).

21:53 (IST): Chennai Super Kings are off to a decent start. Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay are the two openers. CSK 23/0 (3 overs) against Brisbane Heat (137/7).

21:30 (IST): Ben Cutting and Chris Hartley share a 67-run stand off 43 balls for the seventh wicket to guide Brisbane Heat to 137/7. Cutting remained not not on 42 while Hartley scored 35 to take their team to a fighting total. For Chennai Super Kings, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohit Sharma picked up two each while Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin got one wicket apiece.

21:17 (IST): Fifty partnership up! Ben Cutting and Chris Hartley have added 50 runs off 39 deliveries. Chennai bowlers concede 46 runs in last five overs. Brisbane Heat 116/6 (19 overs) against Chennai Super Kings.

21:13 (IST): Dwayne Bravo gets hammered by Ben Cutting as he concedes 16 runs. Chris Hartley and Cutting have added 37 runs in their partnership. Brisbane Heat 103/6 (18 overs) against Chennai Super Kings.

21:05 (IST): Chennai Super Kings bowlers are keeping things very tight. Chris Hartley and Ben Cutting have added 13 runs in their partnership. Brisbane Heat 79/6 (16 overs) against Chennai Super Kings.

20:52 (IST): WICKET! Suresh Raina comes to the party with the ball. Chris Sabburg makes room to play it on the off side but ends up getting an inside edge onto stumps. Brisbane Heat 66/6 (12.3 overs) against Chennai Super Kings.

20:40 (IST): WICKET! Another one bites the dust and this time it's Chris Lynn (29). Ravinchandran Ashwin foxes Lynn as he manages to get an outside edge to Ravindra Jadeja at backward point. Brisbane Heat 61/5 (9.3 overs) against Chennai Super Kings.

20:32 (IST): WICKET! Ravindra Jadeja strikes twice in his first over. First he removes Daniel Christian (3) and then gets rid off Joe Burns (0). Christian was caught by Mike Hussey at long on while Burns edged it to Suresh Raina at first slip. Brisbane Heat 55/4 (6.5 overs) against Chennai Super Kings.

20:18 (IST): WICKET! Albie Morkel removes skipper James Hopes. After hitting Morkel for two consecutive fours, Hopes this times looks to clear the infield but mistimes to Jason Holder at mid off who runs back to take the catch. Brisbane Heat 29/2 (3.4 overs) against Chennai Super Kings.

20:04 (IST): WICKET! Mohit Sharma strikes in the first over. Dominic Michael drives uppishly and straight to S Badrinath at cover. Brisbane Heat 5/1 (0.5 overs) against Chennai Super Kings.

20:00 (IST): Skipper James Hopes and Dominic Michael are the two Brisbane Heat openers. Mohit Sharma takes the new ball.

19:45 (IST): TEAMS-

Chennai Super Kings: Murali Vijay, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper/captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Albie Morkel, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma

Brisbane Heat: James Hopes (captain), Dominic Michael, Chris Lynn, Daniel Christian, Joe Burns, Chris Sabburg, Chris Hartley (wicketkeeper), Ben Cutting, Matthew Gale, Cameron Gannon, Nathan Hauritz

19:30 (IST): Toss! Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni opts to bowl after winning the toss against Brisbane Heat in Ranchi.

19:00 (IST): Ben Cutting admitted Brisbane needed to come up with a plan to handle Dhoni. "He (Dhoni) is pretty world-class, and that's why he gets paid the big bucks," said Cutting. "I certainly won't be bowling any wide yorkers to him, cause those normally tend to disappear over the boundary. I'll probably be bowling back of length. We'll have a look at the footage tonight and come up with the plan."

18:40 (IST): Unlike Brisbane, Chennai have been efficient with the bat. In the first match against Titans, they successfully chased 185 with seven balls to spare, while against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, they put up a mammoth 202. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Chennai captain, was in a dangerous mood, smashing eight sixes on his way to a 19-ball 63, while Suresh Raina, scoring a 57-ball 84, seems to be in good form, racking up 131 in two matches.

PREVIEW

Two teams with contrasting fortunes will take each other on at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi today, when Chennai Super Kings play Brisbane Heat in a Champions League Twenty20 2013 Group B clash.

Chennai, having won both their matches, know that a third win will assure them of a place in the semifinals. Brisbane, however, are at the other end of the spectrum. They're at the bottom of the pile and are fighting to stay alive in the tournament having lost both matches they've played. A loss against Chennai will knock them out of the running for the semifinal berth.

Going by recent form, the result may seem fairly straightforward, but Twenty20 cricket has a penchant for throwing up upsets. Brisbane, in desperation, are capable of punching above their weight and getting the better of a Chennai side, who know a loss wouldn't hurt them too much.

To do that, however, Brisbane will need to improve vastly. In the matches they've played so far - against Trinidad & Tobago and Titans - they restricted the opposition to low scores but floundered during the chase, the batsmen collapsing much too easily. Joe Burns scored 45 against T&T, and James Hopes, the captain, scored 37 against Titans. That apart, not one Brisbane batsman has managed to make a start, let alone get a big score, so far in the tournament.

SQUADS

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Jason Holder, Mike Hussey, Imtiaz Ahmed, Ravindra Jadeja, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay.

Brisbane Heat: James Hopes (captain), Joe Burns, Peter Forrest, Dan Christian, Chris Lynn, Chris Hartley (wicketkeeper), Ben Cutting, Chris Sabburg, Nathan Hauritz, Kemar Roach, Alister McDermott, Matthew Gale, Domonic Michael, Cameron Gannon, Brad Ipson.