Chennai SuperKings Thrash SA Warriors

The Chennai Super Kings crushed the Eastern Cape Warriors by eight wickets in the final of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.

Spin bowlers Ravichandran Ashwin and Muttiah Muralitharan set up the win as the Warriors were restricted to 128/7 in 20 overs. Chennai opening batsmen Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay put on 103 for the first wicket without needing to take any risks.

The result was never in any real doubt although there were only six balls to spare when captain Mahen

dra Singh Dhoni hit the winning runs.

An emotional Dhoni said it could not get bigger for his side to bag their second title of the year by by winning the Champions League Twenty20 title here.

He heaped praised on his teammates for playing as a cohesive unit to bag their second title in five months after winning the Indian Premier League in April.

“We are playing for the last time as a unit. We know some players will no longer be with us after the IPL auction. It is an emotional moment,” he said.

“It can’t get better, winning the IPL and now the

Champions League Twenty20,” he said. He also gave credit to the team’s success this season to coach Stephen Fleming and the foreigners. “Fleming took over as coach and we wanted to create an atmosphere that was good for the younger players. We had some fantastic foreign players like Mike Hussey and Matthew Hayden who had really helped out the youngsters,” Dhoni said.

“The bowlers had done really well. The line that Ravichandran Ashwin bowled with Muttiah Muralitharan was crucial.

Laxmipathy Balaji was also very good,” he added.

He said his side had faced some fitness issues initially but overcame them to win the tournament. "The start of the tournament, a few of the players were infected with flu. But we overcame that and lifted the trophy. It was really satisfying," said Dhoni Warriors captain Davy Jacobs said his side was disappointed to have lost in the final. "We are disappointed but Chennai deserved to win. They beat us twice in the competition," he said. -AFP, PTI Scores: Warriors 128/7 in 20 overs (Jacobs 34; Murali 3/16, Ashwin 2/16) lost to Chennai Super Kings 132/2 (Vijay 58, Hussey 51 n.o.; Ntini 1/30).