The Lions take on the Perth Scorchers in their last league game in the Champions League t20 2014 on Tuesday.
After losing their first game in Group A of the 2014 Champions League T20 tournament, against the Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings knew that they would be up against it for the rest of their participation in the tournament.
They did all they could in their remaining three group matches, the last fixture being against the Perth Scorchers, who they eliminated by defeating them by 13 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.
Half way through the Super Kings innings, it would have taken a brave man to bet against the Scorchers, who had reduced their illustrious opponents to 56 for 4 in the twelfth over. Things were looking set for a winner take all match between the Scorchers and the Lahore Lions at the same venue on Tuesday, for a place in the semi-finals, with Chennai knocked out of contention.
However, Jadeja and MS Dhoni bludgeoned a partnership of 64 in just five overs, and with the Scorchers unable to come to terms with the Chennai spin attack, they subsided to a meek defeat.
Super Kings now have to sit and watch Tuesday’s clash between the Lions and the Scorchers, which will decide the future of both themselves and the Lions in this year’s tournament.
Chennai have finished their group matches with 10 points and a net run-rate of +0.945. If the Lions lose to the Scorchers the Super Kings qualify for the knockout phase, as simple as that. If Lahore beat the Scorchers, then qualification will come down to net run rate.
To improve their own run rate, which currently stands at +0.255, to better than that of their rivals, the Pakistani team will need to defeat Perth by 47 runs, or chase down whatever target is set for them, with at least 33 balls remaining.