Raina powers Chennai into second qualifier

A calculated Suresh Raina half-century - his 23rd in the Indian T20 League - set up Chennai's victory over defending champions Mumbai in the eliminator on Wednesday. Four fours and two sixes were part of his 33-ball 54 which ushered his side into the second qualifier against Kings XI Punjab.

Set a target of 174, Chennai openers Dwayne Smith and Faf du Plessis smashed 60 runs in the first-six overs. Both players capitalised on early lives, but Mumbai's spinners struck back with three wickets in four overs. With most of the top-order in the hut, Chennai still needed 85 runs from 60 balls. But the task proved rather straight forward with Raina finding gaps in the field rather frequently.

He launched Harbhajan Singh for a six over extra cover in the 11th over. And David Hussey followed suit against Pragyan Ojha in the 16th as the target dwindled. Their unbeaten 89-run stand for the fourth wicket secured victory with eight balls to spare.

"We executed the bowing plan really well. And then the batsmen, all of them did their job. I knew I had to bat till the last over," Raina said. "Wicket was really good, ball was coming on nicely. I knew I could hit Ojha over midwicket and Harbhajan over cover. Hussey was batting well and we were running between the wickets well too. Ishwar took a brilliant catch to dismiss Anderson and hopefully we can continue playing good cricket in the next two games as well"