Ranchi: Chennai Super Kings became the first team to secure a semi-final berth in the 2013 edition of CLT20 after registering a dominating eight-wicket win -chasing 138 -over Brisbane Heat in their Group 'B' match here in Ranchi on Saturday evening. This was CSK's third win on the trot. Heat's third straight loss sends them out of contention for the semifinals. The unstoppable Super Kings batsmen wrapped up the win in 15.5 overs, scoring 140 for 2. Earlier, Chennai rode on an impressive show by their slower bowlers to restrict the Heat to a below par 137 for 7. Ravindra Jadeja (2/18), R. Ashwin (1/10) and Suresh Raina (1/9) choked the Heat's innings with regular strikes after the pacers gave CSK a two-wicket opening inside the first four overs. Put into bat, Heat's skipper James Hopes and No.3 batsman Chris Lynn looked to settle down after losing debutant Dom Michael early on in the innings. BRIEF SCORES: Brisbane Heat 137 for 7 in 20 overs (B. Cutting 42 n.o., C. Hartley 35, R. Jadeja 2/18, M. Sharma 2/35) lost to Chennai Super Kings 140 for 2 in 15.5 overs (M. Hussey 57 n.o., M. Vijay 42) Titan Davids clips Sunrisers' wings DC / Surender Negi Ranchi: South African side Titans cruised to an easy eightwicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a Group B CLT20 match at the JSCA International Stadium Compex here in Ranchi on Saturday . In chasing down the 146-run target, they finished at 147/2 in 16.3 overs, the Titans have taken a step forward towards a semifinal berth. The victory was set up for the Titans by the opening pair of skipper Henry Davids and Jacques Rudolph, whose 112-run stand, set them on course. This, after their bowlers and fielders, gave them an upper hand restricting Sunrisers to under 150. By the time Davids departed for a 42-ball 64, the equation was firmly in favour of Titans with 34 required from 47 balls. That did not prove much of task as they reached the target with 21 balls in hand even as Rudolph finished at an unbeaten 49, missing out on a half-century . Earlier, the Sunrisers could not convert a good start by their opening duo of skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Part-hiv Patel to settle for a modest total of 145/7.The Titans bowlers, led by David Wiese (3/17), gave little away after the duo's departure and were complemented well by some exceptional fielding. Put into bat in overcast conditions under floodlights, the Sunrisers' open ing duo raised 21/0 in the first three overs. Dhawan gauged the pace of the pitch nicely, getting two sweetly timed boundaries each in the third and the fourth over even as Mor-ne Morkel troubled Patel at the other end. Semis berth on Royals' mind DC / Harpreet Kaur Lamba Jaipur: Rajasthan Royals have played their cards wisely in the Champions League T20 tourna ment so far. And with just two group games to go, Rahul Dravid's men will have nothing less than a semi-finals berth on mind when they take on the struggling Perth Scorchers in a Group A game here on Sunday evening. The 'perfect' home conditions have been con ducive to Royals' style of play -unpredictable and aided with the help of pacers -and given that it is Dravid's final tourna ment with the team, the Royals are all but keen to last the distance. The going has anything but smooth for Perth Scorchers though, who arrived in India without the injured Shaun Marsh, Pat Cummins and Mitch Marsh, besides Michael Hussey and Nathan Coulter-Nile turn ing up for their respective IPL teams. Their opening game was washed out, while they lost the next to Otago Volts by 62 runs.Rajasthan have played a smart brand of cricket so far. LIVE ON STAR SPORTS LIONS VS OTAGO 4 PM ROYALS VS SCORCHERS 8 PM
