Calcutta: Opener Brendon McCullum blazed his way to IPL VIII’s first century as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) registered a convincing 45-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Chennai on Saturday.
McCullum’s knock, that paved the way to his team’s victory, also earned him the Man of the Match.
With CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni electing to bat at the M A Chidambaram stadium, McCullum scored his century off just 56 deliveries.
Two-time champions CSK put up a formidable 209 for four and then restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 164 for six in 20 overs for their second victory in as many games.
After the match, Dhoni praised McCullum’s efforts and added that it was important to win IPL games at home.
McCullum was happy with his match-winning effort and added that it was always nice to make a contribution.
Excerpts
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: I think we batted really well as a unit on Saturday. The beauty of McCullum’s innings was the way he carried on. It was extremely hot and humid and coming from New Zealand, he must have felt the heat.
It was important for him to carry on and it was good for the team that he was able to bat the full 20 overs. That perhaps got us 20-30 more runs.
It is difficult to rate Brendon’s innings on Saturday. ODIs and T20s are very different. There have been a few 200s and 130-plus scores in T20s lately. You can immediately think of someone like Chris Gayle. But in T20 you also rate the one innings that is fresh in your mind as the best.
A century in T20 is always a brilliant one. So no point rating it. McCullum played very well on Saturday.
It is always important to win at home. When you travel you know the conditions, but teams prepare their wickets according to their needs. One or two days at nets may not be enough to get used to them. So its better to win at home.Victories early on in the tournament also helps as the pressure eases till you reach the knockout stage. It is a good win for us and we look like a settled side. Everyone in the team is fulfilling his responsibility. Our fielding too has gone up by a few notches. I think overall, Saturday’s match saw a good effort from CSK.
Brendon McCullum (MoM): I thought today’s (Satuday’s) performance was really good and it was a thorough batting performance. It always helps to get a hundred.
It’s obviously pretty good. One guy gets a hundred and it always helps, but the partnerships were the key here. It’s been long since I made a sizeable contribution, but it’s good for me. It’s always nice to make a contribution.
It’s a good start for us and it is good to have made a big contribution. I was a little more circumspect today. You can pretty much start from the first ball on New Zealand wickets.
But in India, on these pitches, you need to get in for a little while.
Here you need to give yourself a little time to settle down and then give yourself a chance to go for a big score. A partner like Dwayne Smith also helps a lot.
