Vijay half-century powers Chennai win

M Vijay's powerful batting was one of the cornerstones of Chennai Super Kings' triumph in both the IPL and the Champions League last season. this year, he hasn't quite hit the same heights and came into this match on the back of three single-digit scores.

It was Michael Hussey who provided the initial impetus against Rajasthan Royals as M Vijay took his time to find his range. While Hussey was scoring at a strike-rate nearly 200, Vijay was initially cautious after three failures. It would have been a fourth flop if Ajinkya Rahane had caught a chance in the fourth over at backward point. Soon after the reprieve Vijay showed signs of the destroyer of 2010, with his favourite lofts over the leg side making a regular appearance. All his boundaries - three sixes and two fours - were in the arc from square leg to long-on, a couple came perilously close to the knocking over the redesigned IPL trophy.

With Suresh Raina regularly finding the cover boundary and Vijay muscling a half-century, Chennai galloped to 117 for 1 in 13 overs. During their stand, the most likely mode of dismissal seemed to be a run-out. There was plenty of confused calling and lazy running, and they escaped several times before a dawdling Vijay was caught out by a direct hit from Botha.

Still, the platform provided by Vijay was enough for Raina and MS Dhoni to muscle Chennai to a tall score which proved way too much for Rajasthan's batting, which is over-reliant on Shane Watson and Ross Taylor.