Vijay sizzles as Chennai finally win

Chennai Super Kings were under immense pressure to notch up a win to stay in the competition. They needed a strong performance from a local player to inspire the rest and M Vijay showed the way. An aggressive batsman who rarely plays ungainly strokes, Vijay finally delivered after failing to convert his starts in the earlier games. He showed glimpses of his abilities during a cameo against Rajasthan Royals before a run out cut short his innings, but today he was determined to go one step further, sometimes two or three, stepping down the pitch and carting the bowlers without sacrificing his style.

Matthew Hayden, for once, had to ride on the passenger seat. At the end of three overs, he had faced just one ball for no runs. Vijay faced the other 17 and had already zipped to 37, 24 of those coming off a single over from Praveen Kumar. Vijay began with textbook boundaries, punching Praveen past cover and flicking Dale Steyn past square leg. Bangalore weren't prepared for the explosion in the third over when Vijay opened fire. A short delivery was hooked for six, a slower one was dismissed over wide long-on, a leg-side delivery was worked past short fine leg and a length ball was clipped over deep square leg. Vijay's footwork was complemented by his placement and a right dose of power.

He later ripped into Kevin Pietersen. Vijay, who had reached his fifty off 29 balls in the eighth over, thumped three sixes off Pietersen over the on side, using his feet on each occasion. However, an ambitious attempt at a fourth led to his dismissal, scooping to wide long-on. He made 78 off just 39 balls and set up Chennai's five-wicket win.