Atapattu stars as Jets triumph

Delhi Jets 178 for 4 (Atapattu 64*) beat Chennai Superstars 174 for 6 (Read 37) by 6 wickets
Scorecard

The Delhi Jets captain Marvan Atapattu's unbeaten innings guided his side to a six-wicket win over Chennai Superstars. Tamil Kumaran's single-run penultimate over made the 14th match of the tournament tighter than it appeared, but a driven four by Paul Nixon sealed victory with four balls to spare.

Chasing 175, the Jets reached 95 after just ten overs thanks mainly to a 62-run opening stand in a mere five overs. Taufeeq Umar (20 from 16) and Monish Mishra (37 from 20) carved the Superstars' attack with glee but someeffective bowling from the part-timers helped swing the momentum back their way. But after the openers fell in one over from Tamil Kumaran, Atapattu shepherded his side along at a good rate. Two further strikes threatened another twist, but Atapattu and Nixon, unbeaten on 18 from 15 balls, got the Jets through. Atapattu scored 64 from 43 balls, with six fours and a pair of sixes.

Earlier, Atapattu decided to give his bowlers first crack at the surface. Ian Harvey and Chris Read, two overseas imports for the Superstars, got good starts but failed to move beyond the 30s. A brief middle-order stutter was picked up by captain R Sathish, who hit 29 from 16, and S Saravanan's 13-ball unbeaten 20.

The Superstars and Jets, bar something extraordinary in the remaining matches, are through to semi-finals.