Smith, McCullum seal it for Chennai Super Kings

SHARJAH: For the excellent show they've put up here in the UAE so far, the Kings XI Punjab are easily the best of all eight teams so far in the IPL.
However, the one factor that sets the Chennai Super Kings apart in this tournament, better than the Kings XI perhaps, is the kind of form their opening pair of Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith seem to be enjoying right now.
After giving the Super Kings a couple of good starts this season already, McCullum and Smith came up with their second-best effort so far in the tournament, smashing their way to a 85-run opening stand that sunk the Sunrisers at the Sharjah Cricket Ground on Sunday.While it was left to MS Dhoni eventually to complete the chase, the stage was set by these two foreign imports.
Chasing 145 for victory, Smith came across as the more aggressive of the two, coming up with five sixes and four fours in his 66. Mc-Cullum hit two sixes and three fours in his 40 and the two batsmen were enough to set the ball rolling for the Super Kings.
With 60 runs left to score by the time these two batsmen left, it was only a formality for Super Kings though they lost a couple of unnecessary wickets towards the end of the chase.
Earlier in the evening, the Sunrisers won the toss and elected to bat first, not bothering to take any cue from the earlier match of the day between Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians, where the latter batted first and came apart.
Shikhar Dhawan looked good in the nine balls he faced. However, a pull off Ben Hilfenhaus saw him hit it straight into the hands of the fielder at mid-wicket.
The onus was back on Aaron Finch and David Warner to deliver, the anchors of the 128-run partnership in Sunrisers' previous game that had helped them win their first match of the season.